Beach Weekend
by Terp4Life
Summary: A summer weekend at the beach... because apparently I'm now addicted to writing fluffier Jeller moments, and I just couldn't help myself. (Yes, I wrote 165K words that span only a 5 day period... :) )
1. Bathing Suits & Other Logistics

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: After 3 weeks stuck at home writing (and having) Poison Ivy, apparently I'm now not only addicted to writing less angsty, fluffier Jeller moments, but I'm also unable to go anywhere interesting without also imagining Jane and Kurt there. The kids begged to go to the beach (which we live near) yesterday, and my mind immediately went to Jane and Kurt at the beach. And then MonkeyPajamas twisted my arm (because I **really** needed encouragement), so I blame her, of course. :)_

Jane and Kurt were standing at their respective lockers, getting their things together after a long, hard day. They'd finally solved a case that had dragged on through the past ten days and had culminated in a gunfight, along with far too many close calls for each member of the team. They were all exhausted. Kurt had given them the next few days off to recuperate. Really, the next day was Friday and they weren't technically _supposed_ to be working that weekend, though it wasn't as though there weren't plenty of other days where they weren't _supposed_ to be working when they ended up there, saving the world anyway. So really, he was only granting them one extra day off.

In any case, he'd told Reade, Zapata, Patterson and Jane that none of them needed to be in the office again until Monday. He hadn't decided whether he'd be able to take Friday off himself, as well. Being the boss was rough sometimes.

As they stood there, making small talk but really just sighing in exhaustion and glancing at each other tiredly, Kurt's phone dinged. He picked it up and saw that he had a text from Sarah.

 _Has Jane ever been to the beach?_

 _That's a strange question,_ he thought. He looked up at Jane, who noticed the puzzled look on his face. He didn't _think_ she'd ever been to the beach… who would she have gone with, and when? She'd been found in Times Square in the fall, and she'd spent last summer… well, let's just say she hadn't been at the beach. Just thinking about the previous summer, which Jane had spent… well, basically being tortured… he was understandably uncomfortable thinking about it. He knew that by now Jane was watching him, and he looked up at her, trying to keep his face from betraying his emotions.

"Text from Sarah. She wants to know, 'Has Jane ever been to the beach?'" Jane looked back at him, just as confused as Kurt had been when he'd read it. She closed her locker and walked over to stand beside him, peering down at the screen of this phone, as if looking at the text that Weller had read to her would somehow help her understand why Sarah was asking something so seemingly random.

She shook her head, looking at him in confusion. "No, I've never been to the beach…" _That I remember_ , she added in her head, but didn't say it out loud. That much was a given. "I've seen the water, but not the ocean, and not the beach."

Kurt shook his head, only now realizing that Jane had been with them for nearly two years and was saying that she'd never been to the beach. It wasn't exactly far away from New York City… You didn't have to go farther than Long Island. _But then again, when was the last time_ _ **you**_ _were at the beach?_ he asked himself. He couldn't remember, but it had definitely been a long time.

Jane asked the obvious question. "Why's Sarah asking if I've ever been to the beach, anyway?" Kurt shrugged, looking back at her.

"No idea. Let's find out." He typed out his reply: _Nope. Why?_

She replied almost immediately. _Jessica has a beach house in Virginia Beach. Her renters for this weekend cancelled, and she offered it to me. Sawyer has already packed his bag. Do you and Jane want to come along?_

Jane was reading over his shoulder. "Jessica's her friend from college," Kurt said by way of explanation. He ran through the possibility in his mind. _Could he afford to take tomorrow off? He'd given the team the weekend… Yes, he could probably manage it._ He looked back down at Jane.

"What do you think? You want to go to the beach for the weekend? We'd probably have to leave tonight, it's about a six hour drive…" He watched her for a reaction.

Jane considered the option. She'd never really thought about the beach. It was somewhere people who had free time went, and she never seemed to have any free time… but the way most people talked about the beach, they made it sound like fun. And what else did she have to do this weekend? She and Kurt hadn't talked about whether or not they were going to do anything… Honestly, after the case they'd just wrapped up, she could have easily slept through half the weekend with no complaints. She was sore and tired and…

She looked back up at Kurt, who was watching her intently. _Well? Do you want to spend the weekend with Kurt, Sarah and Sawyer?_ It had taken a while for them all to get past the events of last summer, to find an equilibrium just between herself and Kurt, and even longer to be comfortable with Sarah. Kurt's sister had had a hard enough time adjusting to the fact that Jane wasn't Taylor, after all, and then with everything else that had happened… but Sarah was a genuinely nice person, like her brother, and eventually everything had settled down, and they found a way to start over, putting all the drama of the past behind them.

"It sounds like fun," Jane told him honestly. After all, if she was going to spend the weekend with anyone, Kurt was number one on her list. To this day, amazingly enough, she wasn't sure where exactly they stood with each other, but they seemed to have worked their way back to the good part of the early days… when they'd trusted each other, before they'd started keeping secrets from each other… in short, things were good between them, if still undefined. They spent so much time together at work, it helped keep them at enough of a distance from each other to make everything nice and confusing. But at times when they were alone, like now, looking at each other… well, neither of them were good with words, so they just sort of figured it out as they went along, which was working for them so far. Mostly.

Though he knew that it was somewhat ridiculous and childish, Kurt couldn't help but feel relieved that Jane hadn't been to the beach with Oscar – at least that she could remember, which was really all that counted. Oscar had been gone for a year now, and yet still… there were times when each of them were haunted by him, and the events of that first year.

Kurt smiled at her, happy to have an excuse to spend the next three days with Jane. That had actually been his first thought when he'd told the team that they didn't need to be back in the office until Monday – what excuse would he come up with to see Jane? They often got together on weekends, but it was never assumed.

Kurt was typing a message back to Sarah. _We're in. Leaving… when?_

Again, Sarah replied quickly. She must have been waiting for his response.

 _Tonight. Can you guys be ready in two hours?_

Jane was watching the exchange from beside him once again. She frowned slightly, thinking of one major problem with being ready in two hours. He looked at her questioningly.

"What do you think? Can you be ready in two hours?" he asked her.

She bit her lip, thinking of the best solution to her problem. "I think so…" she said slowly. "Though I may need you to pick up some clothes from my place for me… I'm missing one important thing for this trip, and I'm not exactly sure how long it's going to take to find it… but I know who to call."

He looked at her, interested in her cryptic response. "Hmmm," he mused out loud, "let's see… you've never been to the beach, there's something important that you need before you go…" He pretended to think about it, smiling at her. "Bathing suit emergency?" Jane nodded. It wasn't as though it needed to be a secret or anything. Kurt chuckled, smiling at her.

"I can handle a pick up, if you don't get a chance to get home. Just let me know," he replied.

"Thanks," she replied sincerely and smiled at him, leaning her head against his shoulder for a few seconds before standing back up digging in her pocket for her phone. "OK, if I'm going to do this, I need to call Patterson _immediately_ ," she said, finally out pulling her phone. "If anyone can make this happen, it's her." Kurt laughed, closing his locker, and they walked out together as Jane typed in her emergency request for help. The rest of the team hadn't left very long ago, but she hoped that Patterson didn't have plans in the next two hours.

By the time they were at the elevator, Jane and Patterson had already made a plan. They were meeting a few blocks away, and from there, the blonde was taking over. She had guaranteed Jane that she could solve this problem in less than two hours.

Jane relayed the plan to Kurt, who just smiled and shook his head. Patterson clearly had other skills that were not being utilized by the FBI. He looked at the location she'd told Jane to meet her, an intersection near their office. "Come with me, I'll drop you off," he told her.

"Thanks," she replied gratefully. She'd had a feeling that that was exactly what he'd say. When they pulled up to the corner, she saw Patterson immediately, already there. "Damn, she's fast," Jane commented, looking over at him. "Thanks for the ride," she joked. She'd been in the car for about four minutes.

"Status report in one hour?" he asked. That would be just before six o'clock.

"Absolutely," she replied, pushing the door open. Before climbing all the way out, she stopped turned back, smiling at him across the car. He was glad to see that she seemed excited about this mission of hers, and not daunted about finding a bathing suit in under two hours. Based on his experience with Sarah and the few other women he knew, he could only assume that most women were generally stressed about finding a bathing suit _at all_ , much less in that amount of time. But maybe Jane just didn't know what she was in for…

He smiled back at her, just like he usually did. Zapata was famous for her eye rolling when they looked at each other like this, but it had been going on for about as long as they had known each other, just not quite as often at work – at least when other people were around.

The noise of the traffic around them jarred her back to reality, and Jane realized that time was ticking away. She had something important to accomplish, and no time whatsoever. Giving Kurt a quick wave, she ducked out of the car and closed the door. Kurt was on his way home to pack, and possibly to go to Jane's place, depending on how things went for her. It was definitely going to be an exciting weekend.

An hour later, Jane texted him, as promised. _Mission Accomplished. Where do we meet?_ Kurt was at home, looking for _his_ bathing suit – he knew there was one here somewhere. He hadn't worn it in… how many years had it been? He wasn't sure. He had a passing thought about what would happen if it didn't actually still fit him, but then, he was the same size he'd been a few years back, so it shouldn't be an issue. When his phone dinged with Jane's text, he could momentarily take a break from racking his brain about the location of his bathing suit – the apartment wasn't _that_ big, it had to be there somewhere – and walked back out into the living room to see how things were going with Sarah and Sawyer.

Sarah looked rather frazzled, running in and out of her bedroom back to the living room, back to her bedroom as if she was chasing something that kept moving from one to the other… Kurt watched her for a minute before asking about her behavior. "Sarah… what are you _doing_?" She stopped and looked at him, grimacing, as if she realized how crazy she was acting.

"Oh, you know, just trying to pack for myself _and_ Sawyer at the last second, and I keep thinking whatever I'm looking for is one place, but it's not, so I look somewhere else and get distracted by looking for something _else…_ " She laughed at herself, knowing how she sounded. "How's it going? And where's Jane? She's coming, right?"

"She just texted me, actually. She had to run out and find a bathing suit, so she enlisted the help of a friend. She's done, and was asking where we were meeting. I think she needs to get her things from her house still… or she'll need me to do it. One way or the other."

Sarah looked at him for a second as if she was trying to figure something out. Finally she came to the point, slowly verbalizing her question. "So, you… you have a _key_ to her house?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. _Of course_ she would focus on that. "Yes, I do. I had a key to her safe houses, the first one and the second one, because I was the lead agent on her case. It was weird at first, since we were strangers… but by the time…" _Just skip right past the unpleasantness, and the fact that the FBI no longer provides her housing,_ he told himself. "By the time she moved into her own, non-FBI owned, place," _Good save,_ he told himself, "we'd gotten close. And she said it made her feel better if she didn't have the only key to her place because if she locked herself out of something, she had someone to call."

Sarah nodded, but didn't say a word. It made sense, of course, but it seemed like there was more to it. "Well, we can pick her up at her place, so she has a chance to get her things. 7:00?" Kurt nodded.

"That was what I needed to know," he replied. "I'll go finish getting packed." With that, he walked back into this room, already typing away at his response to Jane. It was just after 6:00 now, and time was going fast… especially since he still had to figure out where in the world he'd stashed that bathing suit.

Forty-five minutes later, Kurt had his bag packed, including the illusive bathing suit, and was watching Sarah continue to run in circles, trying to find the last of Sawyer's things – or so she said. As she ran through the living room, Kurt called, "Hey, Sarah! You want me to pack any food? Breakfast or something?" After all, that was one of the many advantages of a beach house over a hotel room – a kitchen.

"What?" Sarah called distractedly, before she realized what Kurt was asking. "Oh, yeah, sure… whatever." Kurt just chuckled and shook his head. His sister prided herself on being organized, so being spontaneous was very hard for her, as she was currently proving.

After packing what food he could – the things that would survive the trip into grocery bags – and while Sarah ran in circles a few more times, Kurt recruited Sawyer, who had been sitting and watching a cartoons, to help him load the bags that _were_ ready into his car. By the time they were finished with that, Sarah declared herself ready and they took the final bag with them as they trooped down to where Kurt's car was parked.

When they arrived at Jane's house – only about fifteen minutes after their planned 7:00 arrival time – Sarah and Sawyer stayed in the car and Kurt hopped out, jogging to her door. This house had a similar look and feel to her second safe house. As a matter of fact, it wasn't all that far from it. After everything that had happened last year… when she was finally free to live wherever she wanted, no longer being offered FBI protection, despite Kurt's protests, she had chosen a place that was in the same neighborhood she'd lived in before. There was a bakery there that she liked, and it just felt like home… it was the little things.

Kurt knocked on the door and waited, and a minute later, Jane was at the door and breathless, apparently having run from upstairs carrying her backpack, which was over her shoulder. "I'm ready," she said, her eyes shining excitedly. "Let's go."

Back at the car, Sarah had moved to the back seat, where she now sat with Sawyer, leaving the front for Jane and Kurt. Jane climbed in, smiling at the two Wellers in the back seat.

"Jane!" Sawyer said loudly, excited to see her. It had taken Sawyer a while to understand exactly who she was, as much as _any_ of them did, and to figure out that even though they'd introduced her as Taylor, now they were calling her Jane. _Adults are so weird,_ he told himself, and left it at that. Jane had insisted that he call her just "Jane," and not "Miss Jane," as Sarah had attempted to insist on.

"Hey, Jane," Sarah called.

"Hi, you guys," Jane greeted them over her shoulder as Kurt got into the driver's seat.

"Jane!" Sawyer said excitedly, "Have you really _never_ been to the beach?" His eyes were wide with surprise.

Jane smiled at him, though Sarah looked slightly mortified. "Well, if I have, it was so long ago that I don't remember it," he told him honestly.

"I'm glad you could come, Jane," Sarah told her sincerely.

"Thanks for inviting me," Jane replied. "I'm excited."

"So," Kurt said, stealing Jane's attention from the backseat. "You got what you were looking for?"

She nodded at him. "I did," she replied mysteriously. "You'll just have to wait and be surprised."

"What's the surprise?" Sawyer asked, suddenly very interested.

"I had to find a bathing suit on very short notice," Jane told him, turning around in her seat again. Sawyer looked disappointed, clearly not of the opinion that this was any kind of surprise worth talking about. Ten year olds and adults have very different ideas of interesting surprises, after all. Besides, how was that a surprise if Jane had just come out and _told_ everyone that she bought a bathing suit? _Girls don't make any sense_ , he thought to himself.

Sarah, on the other hand, was fascinated. "Oh my gosh," she gushed, "that sounds so stressful. I _hate_ bathing suit shopping. It always takes me hours. Seriously, I think buying a bathing suit is one of the worst kinds of torture ever invented." Jane blinked at her for a second, nodding numbly, and reminding herself that Sarah didn't know any of the details of what she'd been through in the past few years as she turned around in her seat. It was all classified, of course, and Kurt was, as usual, a vault when it came to secrets. He wouldn't have told his sister anything she was not allowed to know, not even if she had begged and pleaded. This made Jane feel better, and made it easier to brush off Sarah's comment, but it still stung.

Of course, bathing suit shopping with Patterson at the last second on a Friday had been… how would she describe it? Rushed. Exciting, though maybe a little stressful. But torture? As someone who had been subjected to actual torture, more than once that she could remember, Jane cringed to hear that word used to describe shopping. She knew that Sarah was only being dramatic, and using it to emphasize how much she dislike bathing suit shopping.

Still, Jane had smiled over her shoulder, or tried, anyway, and politely replied, "Well, it's over, and I survived." Then Jane had turned around in her seat, facing forward and looking distractedly out the window. Kurt had watched her, his heart hurting for her because he knew _exactly_ what was going on in her head and he couldn't do a thing about it in front of Sarah. He would have done anything in the world to go back and stop Sarah from saying what she had said…

He knew that Jane wasn't mad, that she understood. He also knew that Jane was bothered by it, and he longed to be able to do something about it. Sawyer covered the sudden hole in the adults' conversation without even realizing it, as he chatted animatedly for over two hours, until around 9:30, when he finally tired out. Somewhere a little while south of Philadelphia, after they'd passed out of New Jersey, just over the Delaware Memorial Bridge into Delaware, the kid finally fell asleep. Sarah fell asleep shortly after that as well, both of them appearing fast asleep as far as Kurt could see.

Jane hadn't said a word since Sarah's comment, and he didn't think she'd looked anywhere but stared out the front window distractedly, either. _What a way to start the weekend,_ he thought sadly. Kurt checked the rearview mirror one more time, seeing that both Sarah and Sawyer were definitely asleep, before glancing at Jane, who was staring into space, biting her lip what appeared to be pretty hard.

"She didn't mean anything by it, you know," he said softly, not sure if Jane would even hear him over the noise of the car as it hummed along the highway.

Jane glanced at him then, and nodded quickly. Her voice came a few seconds later, as if she had to coax it out. "Yeah, I know." She turned in her seat, her left shoulder leaning against the chair, pulling her left leg under her and pressing her left cheek against the seat tiredly, so that she was now facing him as much as she could. She looked tired, of course, which, considering the lateness of the hour and the intensity of the day they'd just had, was no surprise, but there was more than that in her eyes. Despite her lack of anger with Sarah's comment, she looked haunted by it.

Reaching across the center of the car, he found her hand and squeezed it. Since he was driving, that was the best he could do, but when he glanced at her again, her eyes looked a tiny bit less burdened and there was the slightest hint of a smile on her face. Her eyes met his for a second, and, as usual, they held an entire conversation without actually speaking. He wished that he wasn't driving so that he could look at her for more than half a second at a time, but they were still about four hours away from their destination, which meant that the earliest they would be there was 1:30 am.

Seeing Kurt glance at the clock for what felt like the millionth time, Jane understood his slight frustration. They'd had a long day. A long _week_. Hell, a few weeks. It seemed unfair that he'd somehow become the only driver on what was almost an overnight drive to the beach.

"Did Sarah invite us just so you'd drive the whole way?" Jane asked curiously, still holding his hand.

Kurt chuckled, smiling and glancing at Jane's serious face. "Well, that may have been part of it…" he said good-naturedly. "Growing up, when we would go on road trips with my family, I was the kid who never fell asleep in the car. Sarah would be out almost immediately, and I was always the one who ended up keeping the driver awake when it got late. So I guess I earned that reputation." Jane nodded, still frowning. It didn't seem fair to her. "These days," Kurt continued, "I could probably sleep in the car, given the chance… but then I don't know. I don't get a lot of opportunities. Since usually when we're in the car, it's work related." It didn't escape her attention that he's switched pronouns from "I" to "we" at the end of his explanation, and she knew that she was part of the "we." She liked the feeling that gave her.

He smiled again, thinking about all the time they spent in the car beside each other, usually with Reade and Zapata in tow, when sleeping was not an option. Not as much as he had before he'd been promoted, of course, since in theory, he wasn't supposed to go on all the missions his team went on. But waiting for people to go out and do the dirty work and then report back to him was _not_ Kurt's style. He'd been unhappy about the promotion for exactly that reason, at first, but since he'd had no choice, he'd simply adjusted the expectations of the job. As the head of the NYO, Kurt simply took a more active role than Mayfair had before him, and he went with them as often as he could get away with it.

"You're going to let me drive, right?" Jane asked. After all, she'd driven with the skills of a professionally trained stunt driver even before she'd even had a license – that crash on her first attempt notwithstanding. After all, crashing during a car chase wasn't exactly her fault. Driving was just one of her many skills. "Six hours in the middle of the night is a lot for one person," she added.

"Yes, you can have a turn if you really want one," he assured her. "We should stop for coffee real quick in Salisbury, Maryland anyway. It's basically the last of civilization we'll see before we're practically there."

"How much farther is that?" she asked curiously. She'd been watching the GPS map with interest, since she had no memory of ever having been this far south. She wished she had a _real_ , paper map that she could unfold and see the whole route at once.

"A little less than two hours, I believe," he replied with a yawn.

She looked at him skeptically. "Are you gonna make it that far?" She felt him squeeze her hand, and he smiled at her, glancing at her again for just a second.

"If I feel like I can't make it, we'll switch sooner, okay?" he asked. "And you'll just have to keep talking to me and keep me awake."

"Yeah, okay," she said, smiling at the idea of being the co-pilot, and the one to stay awake with him, but not sure that he'd actually stop and switch with her before Salisbury. Then, yawning herself, she added, "This is a long trip. Is the beach that good?"

He chuckled, having been on far longer road trips over the years. "Six hours isn't too bad. Long enough to keep you from doing it on a regular basis, most likely. Long enough to be kind of annoying, especially if you do it after a long week… But that beach? I think we were there once, when we were kids. I _think_ it was Virginia Beach, anyway. Maybe Sarah remembers. It was either in Virginia or North Carolina…" He shook his head, not quite sure. "We'll ask her tomorrow," he said, glancing in the rear view mirror at his sleeping sister.

Jane nodded. She knew it was silly, but she couldn't help but hope that he hadn't been there before. It would be nice not to be the only one experiencing everything for the first time, for a change. But either way, she as looking forward to this weekend.

After spending the first two hours of the trip simply listening to Sawyer, the next four hours belonged to Jane and Kurt, while the two passengers in the back seat continued to sleep – even when they stopped briefly in Salisbury to pick up coffee to keep them going through the final two hours of their drive. Jane was surprised both when it was time to stop, as well as when Kurt announced that they were practically there. The time had seemed to fly by once she'd broken out of her own thoughts and simply talked and joked with Kurt.

Once they reached Virginia Beach, the GPS steered them to the end of the highway, where it became simply a wide road with numerous traffic lights, and a quickly dropping speed limit, as lanes peeled off into turn only lanes on each side as they approached the beach. The robotic mapping system then directed them onto a residential street just off of what appeared to be the main road that ran parallel to the beach – at least according to the map. It was too dark to see the beach, after all. They found the address easily, and Jane parked in front of the house. It was a small, cute, wooden house that looked very much like a beach house, with soft colors, matching the other houses on the block.

Jane didn't look too closely at the details, however, because it was 1:47 am and the only thing she could think of just then was falling into bed. Jane and Kurt opened the front doors of the car, which illuminated the whole interior and successfully woke up their sleeping passengers. They both grumbled about being awoken, but climbed out of the car without _too_ much fuss, traipsing up the stairs to the front door. Sarah pulled out her phone to find the code to the lock box that contained the front door key that her friend had sent her that afternoon, letting Kurt actually input the code.

Fifteen minutes later they had the bags unloaded, and Sarah and Sawyer had disappeared into the first bedroom down the hall to get back to sleep. Not having quite thought about this part of the trip, Kurt hadn't asked Sarah about the issue of bedrooms, he now realized. While Jane was in the bathroom, he scoped out the rest of the place and discovered that there was exactly _one_ remaining bedroom.

 _Hmmmm…_ he thought, almost too tired to analyze the situation.

Jane found Kurt in the small living room, sitting on the couch. She sat down beside him, now in her pajamas, which consisted of a loose white t-shirt and soft grey pants, leaning her head on his shoulder tiredly. "Time for bed, I think," she mumbled, her eyes closing.

He tried to think of how to broach the subject, but he was honestly too tired to do anything but just spit it out. Besides, it was Jane he was talking to, and they didn't do the beat around the bush thing. It wouldn't have worked if they'd tried, because they were so tuned in to each other anyway.

"Jane, this place only has two bedrooms," he said, leaning his head down against the top of hers. "And Sawyer and Sarah have one."

She paused, and he wondered exactly what was going on in her head. He didn't have to wonder for long, however. "Okay then, come on," she said, seeming completely unphased by the new information, attempting to push herself up to a standing position. He lifted his head off of hers but sat there, just looking at her in confusion. He had to admit that he was surprised at her complete lack of a reaction. She was standing up now, staring at him. A smirk crossed her face, and he knew he was about to be teased about _something_. "What's wrong, Weller, you want to sleep on the couch? Because I don't. I'm too tired to be shocked. Besides… so what?"

He stood up slowly, still watching her, and she took a step closer to him, raising her eyebrows at him seriously for a second, breaking into a smile almost immediately and laying her head tiredly against his chest. How they had stayed in this limbo they were in – obviously more than just friends, but not anything specific or defined – just two people who so obviously felt _something_ for each other but never actually _did_ anything about it, for so long was insane. It was mainly because of work, she knew, since that was where they spent most of their time, and their interactions there had certain unspoken rules…

But they weren't _at_ work.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders loosely and nodded – which she didn't see, since she was leaning against him – "You're right…" he agreed, just as tiredly, "I don't want to sleep on the couch either." She stood back up and they grabbed their respective bags, then started toward the remaining bedroom. As they entered the narrow hallway he let her go ahead of him, walking behind her, one hand now on her shoulder.

 _Too keep us both steady,_ he told himself.

 _Whatever you say_ , said the voice in his head.

They reached the door that Kurt had already looked into, and stopped as Jane pushed it open all the way. They walked inside, and found that it was a smallish room, simply decorated, with a queen sized bed that took up most of the space. There was a dresser and an average sized closet, a window on the far wall… nothing too exciting. The only thing that mattered at that moment was sleep, anyway.

Jane had already gotten ready for bed, so Kurt grabbed his toothbrush from his bag and walked back down the hall to the bathroom while Jane climbed into bed, curling up under the covers, facing the center of the bed, and thinking that she had never been so comfortable in all her life. She wondered if she'd even still be conscious by the time Kurt got back from the bathroom.

Kurt, for his part, came back into the room from brushing his teeth and saw Jane, already appearing to be asleep. As he flipped off the light, he couldn't help but smile. She just looked too darn _cute_ snuggled into the covers. He took a pair of pajama pants out of his bag, glad that he'd thought to include them at the last minute, exchanging the pants that he'd had on that day for the soft cotton ones, and changed into a clean t-shirt before walking over to the bed, pulling back the covers on the empty side and attempting not to disturb Jane, in case she was already asleep.

Pulling the blankets over himself, he found himself laying on his side, facing Jane, without having consciously made the decision to do so. There were about two feet between them, which felt both very close and very far away at the same time. It was strange, because the situation that they now found themselves in was both rather awkward – if they actually _thought_ about it – and yet completely comfortable. With anyone else, he would simply have slept on the couch no matter what. But Jane? Well, she had _always_ been the exception, and it seemed that that was just never going to change.

"Sarah's going to have a field day with this, isn't she?" Jane's voice broke into his thoughts, and he focused on her in the dark. Her eyes were now open, and as his eyes adjusted to the dark he could slowly make out more and more of her face.

He sighed, chuckling slightly. "Yeah, she probably is…" Something suddenly occurred to him then. "Unless, of course, she _knew_ that this place only had two bedrooms…"

"Wow," Jane said, considering the possibility. "That's…" But she was too tired to follow that line of thought any further. Maybe tomorrow…

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter," he said quietly. "Besides, I don't mind if you don't…" If she didn't know better, she'd say he sounded almost shy when he said that…

If there was one thing she didn't mind, it was spending time with Kurt. This was, of course, _very_ different from the time they usually spent together, even when they were alone. And yet somehow, it was even better. Or maybe it was just that she was so exhausted just then, she was deliriously happy to be comfortably tucked into a bed. She was feeling slightly delusional from exhaustion, so it was hard to know for sure.

"I don't mind," she whispered, sliding her hand out of the covers. It stopped halfway between them. Even her current state of exhaustion didn't allow her to do something as bold as reaching for him while they were laying so close together.

He couldn't help but smile. He couldn't think of anything cuter than she was, and he smiled as he slid his own hand forward to cover hers. She felt herself blushing, and she wondered if he was as well, but it was impossible to tell in the dark.

Her eyelids were drifting closed again, almost, but not quite against her will. She would've liked to stay awake just so she could stay in this moment, looking at Kurt as he now held her hand. But she had to admit that this was a pretty good way to fall asleep, if she didn't have a choice but to be losing consciousness.

As he watched her eyes slide closed again, knowing that his own wouldn't be far behind, he couldn't help but notice how absolutely content she looked. His last thought before he fell asleep himself was that _he_ had put that smile on her face, which was just about the best feeling he could think of.

It felt like only a few minutes later, but according to the clock on the bedside table it had been just over six hours when Jane slowly opened her eyes. She was facing the wall, away from Kurt, and the sun was streaming into the room. As the seconds went by, she became aware of her surroundings, and she realized with a surprise, looking over her shoulder to confirm it, and then smiling when she saw that indeed, Kurt was snuggled up behind her, his arm around her waist.

If someone had told her that was how they would have ended up waking up, or if she had even come up with the possibility herself, it might have made her anxious about their sleeping arrangement. Well, maybe not anxious… she wasn't sure exactly how to describe it. Not because she was unhappy about him now being so close to her, holding her around the middle. No, as much as she'd been perfectly fine with the idea of sharing a room with him – she was surprised to find that she actually _liked_ the idea, now that they had been forced to do it – and she was even more okay with where she now found herself. She couldn't help the smile that had taken over her face, and she wondered if it was okay to like this as much as she did. Surely, it couldn't be a _bad_ thing, if it made her this happy.

She shifted slightly, leaning back just a little so that she could watch him out of the corner of her eyes, but trying not to wake him up for fear that he would move. Unfortunately, when she shifted he began to stir, and it was only a few more seconds before his eyes began opening, blinking in confusion just as she had done a few minutes before. She looked up at him, her smile even wider now as she watched his confusion, thinking that it was completely adorable, that _he_ was completely adorable. She saw the second when he realized where he was and connected the dots, and she was close enough to him to see him blushing slightly.

"Good morning," she said, her eyes dancing in amusement.

"I… uh… sorry…" he replied, completely and utterly flustered at waking up the way he had, having obviously snuggled up to her in his sleep. She felt him start to move, and she grabbed the hand that was around her waist before he could withdraw it, holding it where it was.

"Don't be," she said quietly. This time she was the one to hold his gaze securely, the way he usually did when she was unsure about something. The look on his face asked, _Are you sure?_ and she simply smiled at him until his face relaxed and he smiled as well. When he stopped panicking and made his brain stop analyzing what was happening, he realized that he actually liked being right where he was… he liked it a lot. Somehow, it didn't even surprise him. After all, it was Jane, and he liked _everything_ about her.

She kept glancing back at him over her shoulder every few minutes, but otherwise she stayed exactly where she was, still holding onto his hand on her waist. If anything, he was pretty sure that she'd somehow managed to move _closer_ to him, even though he'd already been pressed against her back. He rested his forehead against the back of her head – because why not? – the scent of her hair surrounding him.

 _This is a dream, right?_ he wondered.

"We're going to have to get up soon, before they come in looking for us," he said from behind her. She responded by pulling his arm, the one that was around her waist, into a secure hug that wound around the top of her, so that his left hand now rested against her right shoulder, which was against the mattress.

"No," she said simply, shaking her head. He chuckled at her reaction, agreeing with her in principal but attempting to think practically. Because this was Sarah and Sawyer, and one of them – or both of them – _would_ come in to find them, probably soon. That much was for certain.

"It's not as though I'm going anywhere," he reminded her. "It's us – with Sarah and Sawyer, of course, for the whole weekend."

She sighed heavily, turning far enough around to look at him squarely in the eyes for the first time that morning. Her face was a mixture of delight and stubbornness – so very Jane-like – and his smile only grew from looking at her as she pouted. "Come on," he whispered, leaning just a little closer to her, capitalizing on the fact that she seemed to be extremely focused on their proximity. "We're going to the beach. I want to see this bathing suit of yours." Now it was _her_ turn to blush, and not just a little. She smiled against her will, hating that he had this effect on her, and that he suddenly seemed to know it… and yet very much _not_ hating it at the same time.

"Fine," she whispered back, not taking her eyes off of him. What she would have given to know what was going through his head just then… for a second she wondered if he was going to kiss her… but then he was leaning back, slowly attempting to free himself from her hold, despite how much he didn't want to.

 _We're here all weekend,_ he reminded himself. _We'll be back_ _ **here**_ _later._

"Come on," he said soothingly, attempting to pull her up along with him. "Let's see if we have anything for breakfast, or if we need to go find something." He was moving slowly, attempting to get out of bed, despite her resistance. Leaning his head back toward her, he added, "And coffee, of course." She smiled, but narrowed her eyes at him.

"Don't use coffee against me," she growled playfully. He knew it was one of her weaknesses, and he smiled mischievously.

By now he'd managed to extract himself from the bed, though she hadn't made it to a sitting position yet. "Are you getting up, or what?" he asked, sitting on the side of the bed with his feet on the floor, looking back at her over his shoulder. She grumbled slightly, still pouting a little bit about having to leave what felt like a sanctuary. He found her very funny, despite her slight grumpiness, and he turned around, leaning back across the bed so that his face was close to hers again. "Come on," he said, this time in a more pleading tone, "don't make me deal with Sarah's questions all on my own." Again, she smiled at him against her will, imagining the looks they were going to get from his younger sister. She rolled her eyes.

"Seeing the look on Sarah's face is supposed to make me _want_ to get up?" she asked. His face was still lying close enough to hers that she could easily forget about everything else but him.

He thought for a second. "So, you won't get up for the beach, or breakfast, or coffee, or to help me deal with Sarah…" He pretended that the realization was making him sad, and she had to work hard to keep a straight face.

 _Damn him_ , _he's being cute and he knows it. He's almost certainly doing it on purpose._

He let out a long, dramatic sigh. "Well, I'm going out there… Are you sure you won't come with me? You'd rather just stay here… _by yourself_?"

 _Where did he suddenly get these puppy dog eyes he's giving me?_ she wondered. Exhaling dramatically, she shook her head slowly. "Alright, you have a point," she admitted.

"I do?" he asked, pretending to be surprised. "What was it?" He was obviously working hard at keeping a straight face.

She rolled her eyes. _Of course he's not going to let that go. He's going to make me say it._ Again narrowing her eyes playfully at him, she said quietly, "I'd rather be with you."

"What was that?" he asked, pretending he hadn't heard her.

" _Shut up, Weller_ ," she said, louder this time, reaching over to punch him playfully.

"Come on, Jane, _up!_ " he said again, sitting back up to the edge of the bed. A second later, Jane crawled over and sat on the edge of the bed next to him, swinging her feet over the edge so that they rested on the floor. He smiled at her, then stood up, and she was only a step behind him as they went to the door, ready to face Sarah and Sawyer and a day of relaxation.

After all, it was true… she'd rather be with him than by herself. Or with anyone else for that matter. And now that she was up, she _was_ excited to go to the beach. But first things first: awkward questions, breakfast and coffee.


	2. Coffee, Breakfast and Awkwardness

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: Ohhh, this story… how I love it… and so do many of you, based on your very kind reviews. Thank you all for your feedback so far, and I hope you like this chapter just as much. This story is just SO much fun to write (especially as a breather from The Aftermath, which I'm now alternating with)._

Sarah Weller looked up from the small kitchen table, where she was sitting with her coffee, when she heard a door open, then listened as shuffling footsteps came toward her. A few seconds later, a very sleepy Jane and Kurt appeared from around the corner in the direction of the hall that led to the bedrooms. She'd been wondering when those two were going to be up. Sawyer had been up by seven and was begging to go to the beach, so she'd held him off by letting him watch cartoons… but she knew that that would only last so long. Now it was 8:15 and while she didn't want to leave without at least talking to them, since she was sure they'd be heading down to the beach too, she'd known that if she hadn't seen them soon, she would have had to just see them later.

Jane smiled in Sarah's direction, but shuffled into the bathroom at the end of the hall instead of turning toward the kitchen. Sarah smiled at Kurt knowingly, having figured out what must have happened after she and Sawyer had crashed the night before. Or, she _thought_ she knew what had happened. Truthfully, she wasn't sure _what_ was going on between her brother and Jane. Like everyone else who knew the pair, she assumed that there was _something_ between them… and they _had_ just come out of the one other bedroom together, after all…

Kurt walked casually over to the table and sat down across from Sarah, looking at her steadily. "So… should I have asked a few questions about this beach house before we left New York? Like… the number of bedrooms?" he asked her evenly. "Because you could have mentioned that."

Sarah pressed her lips together to suppress a laugh, but her smile was unstoppable. _She's enjoying this way too much,_ he thought.

"Oh?" she asked innocently. "Was that an issue? I guess I should have asked you about that… I just kind of assumed…" she waved one hand vaguely in the air, which apparently was supposed to substitute for the rest of her sentence.

"You assumed… what, exactly?" he asked her, more curious than anything, but kept his tone serious.

There was one thing to be said for her FBI agent brother, Sarah always found, and that was that when he wanted to, he could make her feel guilty of something even when she actually wasn't. She fidgeted in her chair, now wondering if he was actually upset with her, or just giving her a hard time.

"Oh… um… you know…" She was blushing, and she knew it. Had she made a mistake? Surely they… "Was it… a problem?" she asked, trying to recover from her sudden doubt. "I mean, no one was on the couch when we got up…"

Now it was Kurt's turn to be flustered. Because no, neither of them had taken the couch, and no, when it came down to it, there was no _problem_. In the end, he had actually found that he'd _liked_ being put into that situation. If there had been two rooms, it would have been a question – and knowing the two of them, it would have meant either an incredibly, painfully awkward conversation, or simply a night spent separately… and despite the fact that no, nothing had happened… well… in a way, something _had_ happened, even if he couldn't quite say what it was. No, he was actually glad things had happened the way they had. So why was he giving Sarah a hard time, exactly? Suddenly he wasn't sure.

He fought the discomfort he felt, but didn't show, over being put on the spot by his sister, and mumbled simply, "No, it wasn't a problem." She looked at him as if she was expecting more information, but he gave her none. She just nodded, a smile creeping back across her face. So her guess may not have been exactly right, but it had been pretty close.

"Oh, ok. Well… good," she replied simply. Jane came out of the bathroom then, approaching the table and sitting down beside Kurt, looking from one of them to the other.

"Good morning, Jane," Sarah said cheerfully.

"Good morning," Jane replied, trying to work up to Sarah's level of perkiness but still feeling pretty sleepy, and wondering why she felt like she'd just walked into the middle of something. She couldn't quite put her finger on what, exactly, but there was slight tension in the air between the Weller siblings.

"Do you guys want coffee?" Sarah asked, pointing over her shoulder toward the counter where there was a small coffee pot. "There's more."

Kurt looked at it warily. "Did _you_ make it?" he asked her suspiciously.

Sarah made a face at him. "Yes, I did, and I'm drinking it, and I'm still alive."

"I'd love some," Jane replied, attempting to make peace between the two. After all, she had a feeling she knew the topic of the conversation that she'd missed, and that it involved her just as much as it involved Kurt. She wondered whether he'd given her a hard time about it… even though in the end, things had turned out just fine. Better than fine, even. With that thought on her mind, Jane smiled slightly, glancing at Kurt as she stood up and walked to the counter, where two mugs were sitting beside the coffee machine. Turning around to lean her back against the counter, she asked, "So do you want some, Kurt? Or are you too scared?" Her eyes sparkled mischievously.

Kurt sighed, shrugging. "Sure, why not? If we die, at least we die together." Jane stifled a laugh, turning around to pour the coffee so that she didn't show her amusement in front of Sarah, who had reached across the table to swat at her brother in mock indignation. Not only did she find the statement funny because he was playfully teasing Sarah, but it was also a cute thing to say. She repeated his words in her head. _If we die, we die together_.

Of course, neither of them had any intention of dying, and both had been in numerous situations, even just in the time they'd known each other, where death had been a distinct possibility – which was why the idea of death by his sister's coffee was such a joke. Still, even the implication of solidarity of dying together because of Sarah's bad coffee… it just made Jane smile. Or maybe it was just being around Kurt that was making her smile. Either way, she knew that she was grinning like an idiot, and she was pretty sure there was no way to stop it.

Kurt stood up and walked to the bathroom while Jane got the coffees ready, then she brought both of their mugs to the table, setting his down by his empty chair and looking across the table at Sarah, who was beaming at her.

"So, did you sleep well?" Sarah asked Jane, who couldn't help but feel like Sarah was fishing for more information than just whether or not she had slept well – which, of course, she was.

"Yes, really well, actually. Yesterday was a really long day – we'd had a long _week_ , really – and we were both pretty beat. Work has been nonstop. In fact, I could probably have slept the rest of the day, if I had nothing to do. But I'm really excited about the beach. Thank you for inviting us," Jane replied, happy to chat with Sarah, even though she knew she was being interrogated.

"You're welcome," Sarah replied. "I'm glad you guys could make it." Something in her eyes told Jane that she'd just told her exactly what she wanted to hear, though she wasn't sure what that could be. She had a suspicion it had something to do with Kurt, and she wondered what Sarah had said to him while she had been in the bathroom.

Kurt wandered back to the table then, walking up beside her. She glanced back up and over her shoulder at him, smiling, as he neared the table, and she couldn't help but notice that just before he pulled out his own chair, he laid his hand on the back of hers for a few seconds. The backs of the chairs were low, and his fingers brushed against her back lightly. Sarah was watching them carefully, and though she said nothing, the smile on her face seemed to intensify immediately, which meant that his gesture hadn't gone unnoticed. Not that either Jane or Kurt really cared what she had seen or not seen.

Jane wondered if he'd even noticed what he'd just done, or if it had been on purpose. It wasn't the kind of thing he usually did, but then again they were usually at work together, where he had to keep a professional distance from her. Either way, she realized that Sarah wasn't the only one smiling about that particular little detail.

They sat at the table beside each other, their chairs six inches or so apart, and drank their coffee, which Kurt would later admit that Sarah had _not_ messed up, somehow. Sarah got up and took her empty cup to the sink, asking, "So, do you guys want some toast? Because that's about all the breakfast food we have here…"

"I grabbed some cereal when I was packing up the food back at home," Kurt volunteered. "But… I guess we don't have any milk. Well, we can pick some up later." He looked at Jane.

"Toast is fine with me," she replied, looking back at him.

Kurt turned to back to Sarah. "Yep, toast is good," he said. Sarah, smiled once again, much more broadly than just a regular, happy, smile, popping two slices of bread into the toaster. Something was clearly on her mind, and it wasn't much of a stretch to figure it out. Kurt just hoped that she kept it to herself. If she could do that, she could grin at them all she wanted. He sort of felt like grinning himself, actually, though so far he was pretty sure he wasn't actually doing it… Well, not _too_ much, anyway.

"So, once you guys get dressed, do you want to head to the beach? Sawyer was up at the crack of dawn asking to go already, but I managed to hold him off," Sarah said, looking over at where her son was watching cartoons. "He has his sand toys packed up and everything. He can't stop talking about the time we were at the beach with Uncle Kurt, remember?" she asked Kurt. "Out on Long Island years ago, when you taught him to make a giant sand castle? He said this year _you're_ going to be _his_ assistant, though."

Kurt smiled at the memory of the amazement on Sawyer's face. He'd only been about four at the time, but Kurt had helped him build a huge sandcastle, possibly the best one Kurt had ever built. Sawyer had been devastated a little while later, when the waves had knocked it down as the tide had come in, and Kurt and Sarah had had to work hard to console him. There had been ice cream involved, if he wasn't mistaken.

The toast popped up, and Sarah grabbed it from the toaster, dropping it onto plates and spreading butter on it before bringing it to them at the table. She sat back down across from them and grinned back and forth from one of them to the other. Kurt wasn't sure how much he could take, but at least she was happy, and she _was_ still being quiet about it… though just barely.

"So, you already have your bathing suit on and everything?" he asked her, hoping that the answer was no and she'd a reason to leave them alone for a minute.

"Nope, you're right, I need to go get ready," she said, standing up and pushing in her chair. She smiled at them both one more time, then reluctantly walked around the corner and down the hall toward the bedrooms.

"I think her face is going to crack open if she smiles any harder," Jane observed. "Is that about… us?"

"We had a talk about the bedroom situation," he told her, finally cracking a smile against his will. Jane smiled slightly, blushing. "I'm not sure what she was assuming… but…" He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was pretty clear.

Jane chewed on her toast, not saying anything, feeling her cheeks grow warmer and warmer. When she finished chewing, she stopped and looked at him, smiling, but biting her lip. Was he trying to tell her something?

He watched as she looked at him in confusion, smiling back at her reassuringly. He turned towards her slightly in his chair, moving his leg so that it touched hers, leaving it resting there. The movement had clearly not been an accident, and Jane found that she was actually just a little bit dizzy for a second, just from that small contact. Then, while her head was still spinning a little bit, his voice broke through her thoughts.

"Don't worry, I told her that it wasn't a problem," he said quietly. She released her lip from behind her teeth and smiled shyly, glancing down at the table and thinking back to waking up with him snuggled up behind her. She took another bite of her toast as an excuse not to have to say anything, chewing slowly and finally looking back up and nodding at him. He shook his head at her and just smiled. He'd finished his toast, and she was close to finishing hers. "Do you want another piece?" he asked her. She was still a little bit lost in her memory of that morning, and it took a few seconds before her brain caught up and she was able to answer. Actually, her stomach was flip flopping a little bit just then…

She shook her head, willing her voice to work. "No, thanks," she said finally. He gave her a knowing smile, as though he knew something about her – a secret that was amusing him perhaps – and he stood up slowly, picking up his plate. His leg was no longer against hers, and she immediately missed its warmth, but to her surprise, as he slowly passed behind her, he laid his hand on her shoulder for a few seconds on his way back to the counter, removing it only reluctantly when he could no longer reach her. She turned to look at him over her shoulder as he did, smiling in surprise, sure that she was blushing once again. At the counter, he put another piece of bread in the toaster, then glanced at the coffee machine.

"There's more coffee over here, if you want some more," he told her.

"Yeah, sure. It wasn't bad," she said, standing up slowly. "Are you having more?" She glance at his empty cup, wondering if she should bring it over as well.

"Yeah, sure," he said, nodding slightly and smiling at her.

She didn't want to appear too eager for the excuse to follow him to the counter, so she tried to take her time moving in his direction, all the while wondering if he had offered her coffee so that she'd walk over and stand by him at the counter. Or maybe it was just _her_ who thought of getting more coffee as an excuse to stand closer to him… but if she had to judge by the look in his eye, despite the fact that he was looking at her innocently, she'd say that it wasn't at all a coincidence.

She walked over to him at the counter, stopping almost as close as she could be to him without them actually touching, handing him his mug. For a few seconds after he took it, they simply looked at each other, both looking slightly embarrassed. Reminding herself to keep breathing, she took a small step back, turning to the coffee machine and setting her mug down on the counter. She picked up the carafe of the coffee and refilled her cup, then looked at him, holding the pot ready to pour more coffee into his mug as well. He reached over and put his mug down on the right of hers, which, since he was standing to her left, involved reaching in front of her, which he did slowly and, she was absolutely certain, deliberately.

Again, she had to remind herself to breathe as she poured coffee into his mug, replacing the coffee pot on its burner. He picked up his mug very slowly, withdrawing his arm from only inches in front of her and setting his mug down closer to him on the counter. They were still standing mere inches apart as she concentrated determinedly on adding her usual favorite combination of flavorings to her coffee, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. Picking up her cup, she turned around and leaned against the counter, facing him, as she took a sip, then put her mug down.

He had been leaning his back against the counter, waiting for the toast to pop up, and watching her carefully from the side. When she turned toward him, it didn't go unnoticed, and he turned to face her as well. There were only a few inches between them, and once again he felt that she was incredibly close and yet much too far away at the same time. They were staring at each other now, and when the toaster suddenly popped up, it startled Jane to the point where she jumped slightly. She immediately laughed at herself, turning toward the counter and picking up her coffee, looking away from him as he chuckled to himself.

If he were someone else watching them from across the room, he had no doubt that it would be rather hilarious to observe how awkwardly they were acting with each other. He spread butter on his toast, took a bite and then set it down on his plate. After pushing the plate a little farther back on the counter, he turned toward her and took half a step forward, so that he was now within an inch of her. She stood perfectly still for a second, looking down at her mug self-consciously, then picked it up and took another sip of her coffee. Replacing the mug on the counter, she then turned slowly, now facing him again, and looked up at him, waiting to see what he would do. He wasn't really sure _what_ he was going to do, only that even this close, he still felt like she was too far away from him. She had to remind herself _again_ to breathe, not knowing that he was doing the same thing inside _his_ head.

Just then they heard a door open, and Sarah came bounding around the corner, now wearing a t-shirt and shorts over her bathing suit. "Ok, I'm—Oh, sorry, I…" she stopped, shaking her head and chuckling. Shaking her head, she said, "I'm sorry, you guys are just _too cute_."

Jane felt herself blushing all over, and she was fairly sure that there wasn't an inch of skin on her body that hadn't just turned pink. Kurt had taken a deep breath, releasing it slowly while staring at Sarah with a look she couldn't quite read. He didn't look unhappy, but he didn't quite look happy, either. Actually, neither of them looked upset, exactly, but they _did_ both looked like they'd just been caught. It almost reminded her of high schoolers who got embarrassed to be caught with their first crush. Seeing her older brother act like this… really, it was too adorable for words.

Seeing that they were both now completely embarrassed, she finished the sentence that she'd originally started before she'd actually come into the room – because at this point, saying _something_ besides how cute they were was better than the awkward silence. "So, I'm ready. Whenever you guys are ready, we can go." Sawyer had just stood up from where he'd been enthralled by the TV at the far end of the room, and he noticed Jane and Kurt standing there for the first time.

"Jane! Uncle Kurt! You're coming to the beach, right? Hurry up and get ready!" he said, walking toward them excitedly. The kid may have been eleven, but he was just as excited about the beach as he'd been when he was four and they'd built the sandcastle together.

"Okay, okay, we'll go get ready right now," he assured his nephew. He turned towards Jane, who was still standing very close to him – despite their embarrassment under Sarah's scrutiny, they hadn't moved away from each other – and said quietly, "I'll grab my stuff and change in the bathroom, if you want to change in the bedroom." She might have blushed at discussing their changing arrangements with him, except that she was still pink all over from when Sarah had walked into the room, so she simply nodded, a smile on her lips.

Without a word, she started down the hallway, and she could sense him walking close behind her. She walked through the door of the bedroom and stopped a few feet inside, breathing out with relief and turning around to look at him. He closed the door quietly, and walked over to her, stopping just as close as he'd been to her in the kitchen, still not touching her. "That was…" she began, slightly breathlessly, but then stopped, shook her head and laughed.

He smiled, and it was that smile that took over his face, the one reserved only for her. "Yeah," he smiled. "I can't believe she held it in as long as she did, though. It's not like her at all." Jane smiled in embarrassment, looking down.

"You _are_ pretty cute, though," she said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

"I'm also her _brother_ , and she was _not_ just talking about me," he whispered, staring at her so intently that she had no choice but to look up at him, and then once she did, couldn't have looked away if she'd wanted to – which she didn't, of course. "And she said, 'You guys,'" he continued softly, "and that's both of us… _Together_." If it was possible for her to blush even more, she did – or maybe it just felt that way to her. Then finally, after standing so very close to her both in the kitchen and now in the bedroom, he slowly set his hands on her waist, looking at her without a word for a minute to gauge her reaction, and to be sure he hadn't read her wrong – though that seemed unlikely, at this point. He enjoyed watching the surprise in her eyes, which changed almost immediately to a look that was a lot like… elation, maybe? Suffice it to say, she didn't seem to mind.

Jane leaned forward then, unable to maintain the inch or so between them any longer, and really, feeling pretty weak in the knees just then, to the point that it was difficult to even stand up at that moment. Instead, she felt herself melting against him as his arms tightened around her waist, snaking the rest of the way around her, her arms wrapping around the middle of him as well. Inhaling slowly, and then exhaling just as slowly, she tried her very best to freeze time, because as far as she was concerned, that moment was perfect. Alas, she was not a superhero who possessed those sorts of powers. He released her slightly, feeling her resist the movement, which made him smile. When he stopped moving back a second later and she realized that he had moved just enough to be able to speak almost into her ear, she relaxed slightly.

"The longer we're in here, the more she's going to grin at us. And poor Sawyer is going to beat down the door if we don't get ready to go," he told her. Her arms relaxed slowly and reluctantly, as she looked up at him and pretended to pout once again. He couldn't help but laugh at her. "We're going to the beach _together_ , silly. As soon as we get changed. Okay?" She just nodded, smiling broadly at herself, and was surprised when he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. Any blush that may have subsided was immediately back in full force as she stepped back slowly, watching him.

She had the strangest sensation just then, and it threatened to take her breath away. The only way to describe it was that she felt like anything inside her that had still been broken by the past two years and all of her many, many struggles was somehow at that moment being put back together by the sheer intensity of his feelings for her. Without them having said a word about it, she just _knew._ Thinking about it honestly, she realized that she had always known.

Again, he gave her his most sincere smile as he stepped away from her, towards his bag, pulling out his bathing suit and a t-shirt, then standing up and retracing his steps to where she was still standing, watching him. She'd simply been unable to move yet. His left hand, the one that wasn't holding his clothes, went to her right cheek, this thumb moving back and forth slowly a few times, and once again she felt slightly dizzy from the sensation that accompanied it.

Smiling at her obvious overload of feelings, he whispered, "Get changed, and I'll meet you in the other room." She just nodded, unable to move or think – or to even breathe, really – until he slowly dropped his hand from her cheek and walked toward the door. He went back out into the hall and turned to look at her before he closed the door. He grinned, shaking his head, because she still hadn't moved. Her eyes had simply followed him.

"Get _changed_ , Jane," he laughed quietly. She grinned, shaking her head quickly to try to break the spell she knew that she was under, and finally moving towards her backpack as he closed the door. From her bag she took out the red bathing suit that she'd bought on her trip to the store with Patterson, a pair of light khaki shorts and a simple white tank top.

She took off her pajamas, folding them and laying them on the edge of the bed, then carefully put on her new red bathing suit – a bikini. She hadn't planned to get anything so revealing, but Patterson had made a good argument. As she'd put it, "If you're going to wear a bathing suit when you're covered in tattoos, they're going to be staring at you anyway… and you're gorgeous, so why shouldn't they?" She had blushed at her friend's compliment, but besides her kindness, Patterson really did have a point. Jane was in good shape and could get away with a bikini, and people would stare at her no matter _what_ bathing suit she wore. There was no point in attempting to be modest – though the bikini that she'd chosen wasn't one that would be considered skimpy, either.

The top was fastened in the back by a band an inch thick around the bottom, with a plastic clasp, and the top tied behind her neck. The front, like the back, wasn't something would be considered tiny. It _was_ a bikini, but it did leave a little to the imagination, and she liked it that way. The bottom was similarly mid-way between showing too much and not showing anything. She'd found a mirror on the back of the bedroom door, and as she examined herself she felt a combination of satisfaction and nervous anticipation. She was really going to wear _that_ on the beach? In front of… all those people? In front of… Sarah, and Sawyer, and most importantly, _Kurt_?

 _Yes, yes you are,_ she told herself, slipping her shirt and shorts on over her suit. _That was the point, remember?_

She emerged from the bedroom and walked down the hall, following the noise of the other three occupants of the beach house, who were waiting for her in the living room. "Great!" Sarah exclaimed when she saw Jane, "we're all ready." Then, because she couldn't help but be a mother to all of them, not just her son, she asked, "Does anyone need to go to the bathroom one more time before we go?" Kurt shook his head, chuckling, as he slipped back to the bedroom to put away the pajamas that he had taken off.

"Sawyer?" Sarah asked, since he was the one that her comment had been mainly intended for. "Please use the bathroom now." Knowing that his mom wouldn't leave him alone about it if he didn't, Sawyer walked obediently to the bathroom, disappearing inside.

Sarah had a large beach bag full of towels, and a small cooler with snacks and drinks, both on the counter. "Do you need help with anything?" Jane asked.

"Nope, it's all under control," Sarah smiled at her. "We have towels, we have snacks and drinks… Oh! I almost forgot the sunblock! _That_ wouldn't have been pretty."

Kurt nodded in agreement, walking up beside her as he returned from the bedroom. "Yep, even less so for Jane, I think," he told Sarah, glancing at Jane's light skin. "Do you have enough for everyone?" he asked his sister. "We can always pick up some more on our way." Sarah rummaged through the bag of towels, checking the contents at the bottom of the bag.

"We have… four bottles in here, all the kind you can use when swimming. I think we're good, even for the fair skinned among us. At least for _today_." She grinned at her brother, knowing from experience how fast sunblock went for fair skinned people. Of the four of them, it was a three way tie among Jane, Sarah and Sawyer for the lightest skin. Kurt's complexion wasn't exactly dark, of course, but he wasn't as fair as the other three.

Sawyer emerged from the bathroom then, and before Sarah could ask, he volunteered, "And yes mom, I washed my hands." Clearly, this was a common question.

"I'd better go, too," Jane said, ducking into the bathroom herself. When she emerged a few minutes later, everyone was ready, holding the things they were taking with them. Sawyer had the overflowing bag of sand toys, Kurt was carrying the cooler and Sarah had the bag with the towels. "Is there anything I can carry?" Jane asked, wanting to be helpful.

"Nope," Sarah said, "We've got it all under control. Let's go!"

Sawyer bounded out the door, Sarah right behind him. Kurt had the key to the door, since he'd been the one to open it the night before, and he waved Jane out in front of him so he could lock the door. She stood and waited for him a few steps away, while Sarah and Sawyer stood on the sidewalk, just past where they'd parked the car. After locking the door, Kurt held out the keys – two keys on a plain silver ring – to Jane. "Would you mind putting these in your pocket?" he asked. He'd forgotten that he wouldn't have any pockets in his bathing suit.

"Sure," she replied with a smile, reaching for them. As their hands met to pass the keys from one of them to the other, their fingers brushed briefly against each other. Jane slowly lowered her hand, pushing the keys into her pocket as they started walking, following behind Sarah and Sawyer, who were a little ways ahead, and she lamented the fact that their contact had lasted such a short time. She was surprised, then, when almost immediately, she felt him grab her hand, intertwining their fingers together. She looked over at their hands in surprise, then up at him, and saw that he was grinning down at her. Apparently she'd reacted just about the way he'd expected, because he looked fairly amused. He squeezed her hand briefly, which only made her smile more broadly. At that moment, life was good.

Sarah turned back every few minutes to check that they were still behind her, and when she saw them holding hands, they watched as her eyes widened, as did her smile. Jane looked up at Kurt quickly to gauge his reaction, and saw him roll his eyes and shake his head. He'd expected _Sarah's_ reactionas well, and knew better than to think that that was the end of it. On the contrary, it was only the beginning. Of course, she meant well, and really, it was simply the fact that she was so happy for them that made her just a little _too_ enthusiastic. Nothing they couldn't handle… at least, he _hoped_ so.

Within a block they'd made it back to the main road, Pacific Avenue, which they'd driven down in the dark the previous night. They waited with a small collection of other beach goers for the traffic to stop so they could cross at the crosswalk. Honestly, Jane hadn't been paying attention to much around her besides Kurt, secure as she felt in the little bubble of happiness that was currently surrounding them. However, as they stood in that group by the road, she slowly became aware of an unpleasantly familiar sensation, one that she hadn't felt for some time, but which she had certainly _not_ forgotten about. There were suddenly faint murmurs around them, and other conversations that stopped in mid-sentence, and as usual, at least a few people who obviously thought that they were whispering much more quietly than they actually were.

Jane knew that the closer they came to the beach, and the bigger the crowds around them would be, and the more the sensation would increase. It had been a while since she had had to deal with this – it was a much bigger issue in warmer months, obviously, since that was when more of her tattoos were showing, but, well, she hadn't actually been outside the previous summer... She'd also noticed a great deal more ambivalence in New York, where extreme styles of all kinds were more common than other places, such as here in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for example. There were lots of people with one or two tattoos showing, she'd noticed already, but of course, Jane made one or two tattoos look like absolutely nothing. They'd barely reached the other side of the street when they heard the first intelligible comment about her – from someone who hadn't even bothered to try to lower their voice, either.

"What a shame about what that young lady did to her body. She must have been so pretty." _Must have been, but isn't anymore._ Jane took a deep breath, exhaling slowly. It certainly wasn't the first time she'd heard something like that, and it wouldn't be the last time she'd hear it, probably even that same day – not by a long shot. She felt Kurt squeeze her hand, and she knew how much he wanted to speak up. But they'd had this conversation long ago, and many times since – what was he going to do, she'd asked him, try to defend her honor against every rude or ignorant person, every person who simply jumped to conclusions about her based on her tattoos because they felt that he appearance gave them permission to do so? Because there were _a lot_ of them. The battle would be never ending, and they would never, ever win. It just didn't make sense.

What did make sense to her, she had decided, was to make eye contact with as many of those people as possible, and to simply smile at them. Because what else could she do? Getting upset or acting offended, while it certainly seemed that she was justified in doing so, based on their rude behavior, wouldn't help. It would only make her "the angry tattooed girl," and that was _not_ who she wanted to be. Yes, it was extremely frustrating that people made so many assumptions about her, but she also knew that she was far from being the only one who this happened to, just for different reasons. She'd talked to Dr. Borden about this issue extensively over time, after all. It had been a long, hard adjustment, but most of the time, she was okay. Still… it wasn't fun… she simply had no choice.

Sarah, on the other hand, was walking right in front of them, and had no experience with this whatsoever. She whipped around, instantly angry on Jane's behalf, searching the crowd for the person who'd made the offending comment. Jane had already found the older man, made eye contact with him and simply smiled her biggest smile. Sarah, on the other hand, looked like she was ready to tear someone limb from limb – which, considering her normally sweet disposition, was a rather startling sight. Jane glanced up at Kurt and smiled, then let go of his hand for the moment, stepping quickly up to catch up with Sarah. She put her arm around the other woman's shoulder so that she could talk to her quietly.

"Sarah, it's okay," Jane told her, "It happens all the time. Getting mad doesn't help. I just smile at them, or if I can't do that, I just ignore them. There's nothing else I _can_ do. There are a _lot_ of people with strong opinions out there about my tattoos, trust me." Sarah turned and looked at her, her eyes wide, in disbelief.

"But… Jane. What gives anyone the right to be so cruel? Someone should say something," she insisted.

Jane shook her head, smiling sadly at Sarah's indignation. She'd certainly been there, and even worse. "You can't fight everyone, you just end up angry at the world, and that's not who I want to be," Jane explained. "I appreciate the thought, though." She gave Sarah's shoulders a squeeze as they continued to walk, and then let her arm drop, falling back to walk behind her again. Kurt was right there, still walking behind Sarah, where the two of them had been the whole time, and when she dropped back beside him, he immediately took her hand again, squeezing it for good measure.

Every time he thought his admiration of this woman couldn't be stronger, she did something like that. He simply couldn't imagine what it was like to be her, despite how long and how well he'd now known her. She was truly amazing.

The crowd followed the sidewalk up the block between Pacific and Atlantic Avenues, and then continued straight up the sidewalk through the space left between the large hotels on each side of them that gave pedestrians access to the boardwalk – which was actually made of cement, unlike the boardwalks of many other beach towns – and then the beach beyond it.

Once they made it past the bike lane – two narrow lanes, one in each direction, running parallel to the boardwalk, that kept bikes separate from pedestrians – they were on the main boardwalk, and the crowd that had been funneled up the sidewalk with them had room to spread out, dissipating quickly.

They walked to the edge, leaning against the railing and looking out at the absolutely perfect day. Blue sky with puffy, white clouds, blue water and a beach full of people who were there to do exactly what they were there to do – relax and have fun.

As they stood for a moment and looked out at the beach, Kurt dropped her hand but moved to stand behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder, one arm on each side of her, though he rested them on the railing, not actually on her. She grinned, because there he was being cute again…

"This is so much better than being at work," she said, turning her head slightly. Their faces were so close together already, she had barely turned and she was almost speaking into his cheek. Unlike she had earlier, she suddenly didn't feel at all awkward about how close they were standing. "I'm so glad my boss gave me the day off," she added. He chuckled, turning ever so slightly towards her, bringing their faces even _closer_ together…

"Sounds like quite a guy," he said to her cheek.

"Oh, he is," Jane replied. "Most of the time, anyway." Her face erupted in a smile, watching him react with pretend shock. She leaned her head only slightly to her right, and was suddenly leaning her cheek against the scruff of his face.

"Alright, you two, let's at least go get a spot to sit down before you start that," Sarah called good-naturedly. They laughed, and she felt him lean against her as well before pushing back to stand up. While she immediately missed the closeness, he grabbed her hand again immediately, and they followed Sarah the short distance to the wide stairs that led down to the beach. It was only Friday morning, barely nine o'clock, and it had _already_ been a great weekend. And yet, this was only the beginning.


	3. Sunblock

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: I have to say, this story is the perfect one to alternate writing with The Aftermath, which is so painfully angsty (just wait for the next chapter of that one, OMG!). As far as **this** chapter goes, all I can say is... you're welcome. :)_

As they walked down the few steps to the sand below, Jane noticed that Sarah and Sawyer, even Kurt, immediately kicked off their sandals and picked them up rather than try to walk with them through the sand. She followed suit, immediately surprised by the feeling of sand under her feet and between her toes. It was… strange. Squishy. Warm. Looking at her feet in surprise, she noticed that it was also very hard to walk in. She looked up at Kurt, who was watching her with a smile. He wasn't laughing at her, though he did seem to realize that she was surprised by the sand, and find it more than just a little bit amusing.

"It's a weird feeling, isn't it?" he asked her, smiling sympathetically. "Lots of little kids don't like it. It took us a few years to get Sawyer to be comfortable with it… I used to go to the beach with him and Sarah a lot when he was little. Well… not _a lot_ , but… more than now. The last few years… well, things happen. Life gets busy."

She was still holding his hand with her right hand, carrying her sandals in her left, as she struggled to walk through the soft sand. Sarah and Sawyer were halfway down the beach already, but at least they could still see them ahead. Kurt wasn't rushing her. On the contrary, he seemed content to go at whatever pace she wanted to. Or, more accurately, however slow she needed to go.

 _This is what everyone gets so excited over?_ she wondered in annoyance. _This whole sand thing may be overrated_. Of course, she could do it, she reminded herself – with all of her various extraordinary skills, she could certainly handle walking through sand! It was just that it was so… frustrating.

Kurt could see how annoyed she was as she tried to hurry after Sarah. "Hey," he said, using her hand to tug her a little closer to him. "You don't have to try to walk so fast. Don't fight the sand, just take it slow. Besides, we're not in a hurry. It's annoying, but if you don't think of it as slowing you down, it actually feels kind of cool." She let him set the pace and found that it was true, the less she fought to walk through the sand, the less frustrating it was. They were getting there, just… more slowly than she'd expected. But what was the rush, after all? He was right beside her.

"See over there, where the sand changes color?" He pointed to what looked like a line where the sand suddenly got darker and flatter. She nodded, then looked back at him. "That sand isn't as dry as it is here, and it's a _lot_ easier to walk on." The difference she noticed when they reached the wet sand was dramatic, and once again, she felt like she could walk normally. They finally caught up with Sarah and Sawyer, who were laying out their towels not far from the water. Jane followed everyone else's lead and laid her sandals down along the edges of the towels to anchor them against the occasional breeze, but really there wasn't much wind blowing – at least not yet.

Sarah had taken the sunblock out of the bag and tossed it out onto one of the towels. Sawyer was wearing a bathing suit and UV protectant shirt that so many kids wear, which protected most of him from the sun, but Sarah was still in the process of spraying his remaining exposed skin with sunblock and then rubbing it in. Luckily for him, the fact that he was already partially covered cut down on the time it took for his mom to apply sunblock to him, because with his fair skin, he couldn't afford _not_ to use it.

"Help yourself to sunblock, you guys," Sarah called. Kurt nodded, tossing down his sandals and setting the cooler at the corner of the farthest towel, letting go of Jane's hand. She stood beside one of the towels, watching Sarah rub sunblock on Sawyer.

 _It's going to take a lot more sunblock than that to cover me,_ she thought. Still, she was relieved that this was something normal, and not a consequence of her tattoos or her lack of a memory, simply a result of her having very fair skin and a bathing suit that didn't cover very much of it. All of a sudden, she felt self-conscious about that new bikini that lay under her clothes. She tried to recall Patterson's reaction when she'd seen her in it, and how her friend had absolutely insisted that it was perfect on her. In her head, she gave herself the pep talk that she imagined that Patterson would have given her, had she been there.

Glancing around them at the other groups of people who were on the beach, whether sitting down or just arriving, like them, she suddenly felt like everyone was staring at her, and at her tattoos. Granted, a few of them actually _were_ staring, though they most of them had the decency to at least look away when she glanced in their direction.

Suddenly, Kurt was standing directly in front of her, his face only inches from hers as he asked, "Is it time for the big reveal?" he asked her quietly. His eyes were twinkling mischievously, and it was then, when her eyes flicked down quickly, nervously at his question, that she noticed that he had already pulled off his t-shirt.

Her first thought was, _Now that's something you don't see at the office_ , as her eyes shot back up to his face. He was definitely… _not bad to look at_. _Not bad at all._ She was having trouble figuring out which of the two was the _less_ dangerous place to look was, actually. She had to fight the urge to take a step back - not because she wanted to be farther away from him, but because she was simply overwhelmed at that moment.

 _What were you expecting?_ the voice in her head asked. Really, she hadn't thought about this part somehow.

He seemed to sense her sudden surge of emotions and, after bending down to pick up a bottle of sunblock, he put his hand lightly on her bicep, which immediately got her attention. All of a sudden she was back in the present moment, and as much as her heart was beating wildly, his hand on her arm was more calming the rest of it was overwhelming – as usual. She looked back up at him, trying to steady her breathing, because she suddenly felt like a lot was happening right in front of her, and a lot more happening in her head…

"You're going to want to step back a little while I spray this," he told her calmly, as if nothing unusual was happening. Somehow he always knew when to make contact, when she needed reassuring words, and when acting like everything was completely normal would put her most at ease. He knew it far better than she knew it _herself_. "You don't want it to get in your eyes, because it'll sting."

She nodded, and he slowly let his hand slide down her arm, beginning where he'd been holding onto her bicep, and moving all the way down to her hand before dropping completely, leaving a trail that felt amazingly like electricity in its wake. Taking a few steps away from their things, while also attempting to stay away from other beach goers as much as possible, he sprayed sunblock on the skin of his arms, legs, chest, stomach, neck… everywhere that wasn't covered. She realized too late that what she was doing was more accurately classified as staring at him than just watching him.

He could see her watching him rather intently, even without looking directly at her. He might have been embarrassed if he'd been stared at so blatantly by anyone but Jane, but as usual, she was the exception. It was a compliment, he decided – she certainly didn't have a poker face whatsoever just then, and he was pretty sure that she liked what she saw, which obviously was totally fine with him.

As he finished rubbing sunblock into his neck and shoulders, he looked up at her in amusement, and she felt her face turn pink immediately.

 _Did he know I was watching him all that time? s_ he wondered in a panic.

 _But… I was just watching to see how it's done,_ she protested to herself.

 _Right_ , said the other voice in her head, _that's_ _ **exactly**_ _what you were doing._

Kurt had finished up now, and walked over to her with the bottle, holding it out to her. However, instead of just handing it to her, he asked, "Can you get my back?"

 _Oh, wow_.

For a second, her thoughts stopped there as she looked at the sunblock, slightly panicked… but in a good way. She'd had no way to know that this was what was coming. Never having been to the beach, or even really knowing anything _about_ it, she didn't know that this was something that was reasonable to expect of someone you went to the beach with. While she was a little bit nervous, she certainly couldn't _object_...

Nodding and trying to sound absolutely _not_ shocked or nervous when she replied, "Sure," she took the bottle from him, shaking it slightly as she'd seen Sarah do. He smiled at her, looking like he might just know exactly how flustered he was making her, and turned around so that his back was towards her. She began spraying, not quite hard enough at first, but quickly getting the hang of it. Starting at his shoulders, she sprayed back and forth all the way down his back to where his bathing suit began. _Spraying_ his back was the easy part, of course.

He looked over his shoulder at her, turning part way around and leaning down towards her, and said, a serious look on his face, "The directions on the bottle _really do_ say you have to rub it in after you spray it. I swear, I'm not making it up to get you to rub my back… _That_ is just a lucky coincidence." He grinned at her, then added, "Do you want to check the bottle?"

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" she asked innocently. It was a slightly loaded question. There hadn't been any lies between them in a long time… not since everything that had happened the previous year.

Leaning even closer to her, he looked into her eyes and told her, "Never again." The look on his face threatened to melt her heart then and there.

"Okay then, I believe you," she replied just as quietly, slightly surprised by his absolute sincerity. She couldn't help the smile that overtook her face, and he turned back around slowly.

 _Well okay then, since I have no choice…_ she thought to herself, definitely _not_ hating this particular assignment. This was a part of the beach weekend that she hadn't been able to anticipate, and she certainly wasn't complaining. Tentatively at first, she started with his shoulders, working her way down his back at what she could only guess was an appropriate speed. She'd watched Sarah rubbing sunblock on Sawyer just a minute before, and she'd seemed to be doing a pretty thorough job…

This wasn't exactly the same, of course, but the idea was the same – from what she'd heard, sunburn was pretty serious for some people, and she'd read that even if someone wasn't prone to burning, sunblock was important. _I can't have him getting sunburned,_ she thought, rationalizing just a _little_ bit more rubbing of her hands across his back than may have been absolutely necessary… there was no rush, after all, and she wanted to be sure she did a good job…

Finally, she was fairly sure she was done, and let her hands drop slowly down his back. He turned around and smiled at her, and for some reason she felt herself blushing again.

 _Stop it_ , she told herself. _That was just sunblock_. But her brain wasn't buying it. He was looking at her steadily, no doubt waiting to see her new bathing suit, when Sarah's voice interrupted their thoughts.

"Here you go, guys," she said, holding out a differently shaped bottle. Kurt reached out and took it.

"Thanks," he said to Sarah. Then, to Jane, he said, "More sunblock," holding up the bottle to show it to her. This one wasn't a spray, but a white, almost liquid like substance. "It's easier to put this on your face. Helps avoid spraying in your eyes… although, you don't want to get this in your eyes either…" he explained, putting a few dabs onto his hand and then spreading them around his face as best he could. After a minute he looked down at her and asked, "Did I get it all rubbed in?"

 _I think I love sunblock_ , she thought, having to stifle a grin as she shook her head, reaching up to rub in the white streak that he'd left across his left cheek. She wondered if he'd done it on purpose…

"Better?" he asked, raising his eyebrows playfully.

 _I could say no, and rub his other cheek…_ she thought, followed closely by, _Oh no, I hope this isn't one of those times when he reads my mind…_

She noticed him looking at her intently then, as if he wanted to laugh, and before he could say anything else she nodded quickly. "Uh, yes, you're all set. Much better."

"Alright you two, can I trouble one of you to do my back?" Sarah asked. Jane turned and looked at her, and saw that Sarah had removed her t-shirt and shorts, and was now standing there in a black, one piece bathing suit that left the top half of her back exposed.

"Sure," Kurt said, stepping forward and taking the bottle from Jane, brushing past her as he went. She smiled slightly, suspecting that it had not been accidental. While he was spraying sunblock on Sarah's back and then rubbing it in, Jane took advantage of their distraction to take off her shorts and tank top without feeling like she had _quite_ as much of an audience – only _all the rest of the people on the beach_ besides the two she knew – Sawyer having run down the short distance to the water's edge as soon as his mom had finished rubbing sunblock on him.

Still, somehow it was easier to shed her outer layer of clothes without Kurt watching her, even knowing he was about to turn around and see her in a few seconds anyway. Laying her clothes down on the towel by her feet, she stood still, suddenly feeling very exposed, much more so than made sense considering the small amount of clothes she had actually removed. She watched Sawyer playing in the water as she waited for Kurt to finish with Sarah's back, her apprehension mounting. For some reason, she preferred not to be looking at him when he turned around to see her. She was feeling _very_ self-conscious at that moment, so she just focused on Sawyer and wished that it was over with, already.

Suddenly, she noticed the playful brother-sister banter behind her had stopped, and the silence that replaced it was almost deafening – at least to her. Then, without turning her head, she saw Sarah walk into her line of sight, on her way toward Sawyer. "I love that suit on you, Jane," she called, grinning, and then turning toward her son, she splashed him from behind as he waited for the next wave to roll in. Jane continued to watch the two of them, now absolutely unable to turn around, feeling Kurt's eyes on her even without looking at him.

"Wow," he said, walking in front of her and coming to stand only inches away. "You know how amazing that looks on you, right?" From the look in his eyes, she could tell that he meant it sincerely. She couldn't help but smile, feeling herself blush… _again_. How many times was that now? How did he keep doing this to her?

"Oh, really?" she asked, biting the side of her lip and smiling.

"Oh, like you don't know…" he replied, making a face at her.

She shrugged. "Maybe…" Finally looking up at him for more than a second, she added shyly, "but I certainly don't mind hearing it."

He took a step back and looked at her, still in shock over how beautiful she looked. Of course, he'd seen her naked before – which seemed like a weird and _extremely_ inappropriate thing to think about someone he worked with – but again, Jane had always been an exception to the rules. No, the whole team had studied pictures of every part of her body day in and day out for months on end, and longer, looking for clues to help them solve what they referred to as "the tattoo cases." Looking at her now, he could honestly say that he actually found her much sexier wearing this new bikini than seeing the pictures of her wearing nothing at all work. Either way, there was simply no denying that she was gorgeous.

Looking her up and down, his eyes returned to hers, and he stepped closer to her once again. "You look… incredible," he said softly. "Not that I'm surprised, of course." She was sure she was beet red by now. "And now," he said, deciding that he'd stop embarrassing her, which it was obvious that he was doing, with the truth, "you need to sunblock all that fair skin."

"Right," she said, reaching for the sunblock he was holding. He handed it over, and she began spraying it on her arms, almost expecting him to offer to rub it in for her. She wasn't entirely sure how she would have answered if he _had_ offered, but he just watched her, glancing out at the ocean from time to time, but mainly watching her working her way down her arms and legs, her stomach, her shoulders and neck… it felt like it was taking forever, especially because she couldn't help but be conscious of the fact that Kurt was watching her – the same way she had watched _him_ , though he was staring at her less blatantly than she'd stared at him.

"This takes almost as long as getting to the beach," she commented in surprise, feeling like she'd been sunblocking herself for hours, as she finally finished the front of her.

"Okay, hand it over," he said, holding out his hand for the sunblock bottle and smiling at her. She noticed that the sunblock was now significantly lighter in her hand.

"I'm not sure there's much left in here," she replied sheepishly, handing it over. "I think I have too much exposed skin."

He'd already stepped around her to spray her back, and he leaned over her shoulder and said, "I think you have _just the right amount_ of exposed skin," winking at her with a boyish grin. She slapped him playfully with the back of her hand, unable to _not_ smile at him.

 _Now I think I see why people like the beach so much_ , she thought, knowing very well that it wasn't the beach that she liked so much, but the company.

"One more thing, Jane," Kurt said from behind her. She turned around to look at him questioningly. "This is going to feel _really_ cold. A lot colder than it did on the front of you, for whatever reason." Her eyes widened slightly. She wasn't sure exactly what _very cold_ on her back was going to feel like… but she supposed that she was about to find out.

"Thanks for the warning," she said hesitantly, turning back around, now just a little nervous.

"Ready?" he asked.

"As I'll ever be…" she replied, not sure what to expect. A second later she found out just how right Kurt was, because the sunblock was indeed _very cold_. More specifically, she felt like he was spraying ice directly onto her back. Her arms were at her sides, and almost immediately every muscle in her body tensed, as was obvious by the fact that her fingers suddenly spread out as far as they could from each other. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth against the sensation. Okay, it wasn't torture in a CIA black site, or a body full of brand new tattoos, but it was pretty damn uncomfortable.

Kurt hadn't even finished spraying her upper back when she felt him grab her left hand, and she squeezed it tightly as he continued to spray her back. Her eyes were still closed and her teeth were still gritted, but at least she had his hand to squeeze through the rest of it as he sprayed down to the bottom strap of her bikini top, and then across her lower back, which made her squirm even more.

Finally, mercifully, he was done. She stood there, trying to focus on catching her breath and continuing to squeeze his hand. He chuckled at her reaction, leaning over her shoulder slightly once more. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"Holy _shit_ that was cold!" she said breathlessly, opening her eyes. "What the hell is in the stuff? And why does it feel so much colder on my back?" He was still laughing at her gently, his right hand already sitting on her right shoulder. She leaned into his hand unconsciously, grateful for the sudden warmth that contrasted so significantly with the feeling of being frozen to death.

"Yeah, you should have heard Sawyer scream when he was little. It lasted for the entire time we sprayed him, which was a _lot_ of fun, trust me... But it's actually a really common reaction in kids," he replied, prying his left hand from hers, and moving it to her shoulder. Then, leaning over towards her ear once again, he added, "In adults, _not so much_." She turned her face to the left, where he had positioned himself by her ear, and glared at him playfully.

"Did I scream?" she asked, pretending to be offended by the implication that she had reacted like a kid to the sunblock on her back.

"No, you didn't," he replied, as if he hadn't tried to compare her reaction to a child's.

"So then, what are you trying to say?" she asked him, looking into his eyes, mere inches separating them as she dared him to say something that would get him in trouble.

"I just meant that you…" he paused, beginning to rub the sunblock on her shoulders and upper back very slowly into her skin, "need someone to warm you up...?" Whatever reply she'd been preparing died on her lips, and she just stared at him, open mouthed. He looked at her seriously for only a few seconds before his face dissolved into the same charming smile as usual.

 _Is that over the line as far as teasing her goes?_ he wondered for a second.

 _You've been over the line for a while now_ , a voice in his head replied quickly. _You're just now concerned about it?_

She wasn't quite sure how to reply. He _looked_ like he was kidding… but of course now he was rubbing his hands across her back, which was indeed making her feel warmer. Actually, after that comment she'd felt her entire body flush what felt like a dark pink all over again… and then there was the fact that they were standing in the sun. She stood very still, turning to look back out at the ocean, not sure exactly how she was supposed to react.

He was watching her carefully, and though he could no longer see her face, he did notice that she was suddenly standing completely still, and that her muscles felt very tense under his hands – not quite the same way she had when he'd been spraying sunblock on her, but tense nonetheless. _The timing of that joke and rubbing her bare back at the same time may have been a_ _ **little**_ _too much,_ he thought. Though he wasn't finished rubbing in her sunblock (he _could have_ been finished by then, but was simply taking him time… to do it very thoroughly, _of course_ ), he slid his hands back up to her shoulders, moving his thumbs gently against the base of her neck. Leaning over her shoulder again, he said, "You know I'm kidding, right?"

She turned in his direction again, looking flustered and uncertain, but above all, _relieved_. One of the things he liked best about Jane was that she _wasn't_ like everyone else, that she was simultaneously vulnerable and incredibly tough at the same time… he just forgot, sometimes, that since she had such a limited amount of memories, she could be very easily overwhelmed in certain situations… specifically, anything remotely like this one – anything involving the complex relationship that had always existed between the two of them. He smiled at her, rubbing her shoulders less as a way to spread sunblock on her and more as a way to help her relax. Her smile slowly returned, to his relief.

"Well, now that that's cleared up, get back to work," she told him seriously. He smiled then, and his hands returned to the middle of her back, where he'd been rubbing in her sunblock.

"This is work?" he asked as his hands moved slowly. "Hmmm… I think I must have gotten a pretty damn good promotion."

"Oh? And just out of curiosity, have you put sunblock on anyone else on the team as well?" she asked seriously. "Reade, maybe? Patterson? I think Zapata would sooner punch you in the face…" He snorted with laughter, and as he'd reached her lower back, he brought his hands around to her sides and tickled her lightly. She stepped forward quickly to get away from the attack, turning around to face him. "Hey, no fair!" she cried.

"What's wrong?" Kurt asked. "A little ticklish?"

She shrugged. "I guess so…" she replied. "Did you actually finish my back? Or am I going to end up sunburned?"

"Let me just make sure. I promise not to get distracted," he said, looking at her innocently.

"I don't think you should make that promise," she observed with a smile, but returned to her place in front of him anyway.

"It's true," he said thoughtfully, gliding his hands over her back again to be sure the sunblock was rubbed in. Once his "work" was finished, his fingers lingered on the tattoo that looked like large, hexagon shaped rings in the middle of her back. He traced the perimeter of the outer one, then switched to the next smallest ring, and then the middle one after that. Finally, the fingers of his right hand moved upward and settled on his name, at the top of her back, his left hand dropping to his side.

He had clearly finished rubbing in the sunblock on her back, but his fingers were still tracing their way across her skin. She certainly didn't dislike what he was doing, even if it made her wonder a little… Most of the time since they'd arrived in Virginia, she had been perfectly happy to ignore the fact that the invisible line that had always existed between them because of work apparently didn't exist between them here, so far away from home. Just then, however, she couldn't help but think about it. Maybe it was because she was staring out at the ocean, which, while beautiful, wasn't quite as good as the view that she would have had if he'd been standing in front of her, not behind her.

She knew which tattoo his fingers now rested on. She had studied them endlessly, enough to know that the one he was touching was the one of his name. Turning to look over her shoulder at him once again, she caught him staring at her back absently, appearing lost in thought.

"So, I guess they look different in person…?" she asked, smiling at him knowingly. He looked up at her, knowing that she'd caught him, and bringing himself back from where he'd been lost in thought. With a smile of his own, he swept his hand across her upper back once more before letting his fingers trail lightly down her spine until he reached the end of her exposed skin, at which point he reached for her left hand with his right, instead.

 _He knows exactly what he's doing,_ she thought, as she attempted not to shiver as his fingers trailed down her spine, finding it impossible. As he took her hand, she looked over at him as if to say, _I know that you know exactly what you're doing_. He just looked back her innocently, smiling and squeezing her hand.

"Only one thing left to do," he told her, keeping her hand in his and turning to face her. She raised her eyebrows questioningly, still a little dizzy from the whole sunblock application on her back thing. He bent down and picked up the bottle of sunblock that Sarah had brought along specifically for their faces. Instead of taking it, she simply held out her palm for him to squirt it onto her hand. After managing to flip the tab open with one hand, not wanting to let go of hers, he turned it over and squirted some onto her hand. It came out a little faster than he'd expected, perhaps because he was using his left hand, and suddenly her hand had significantly more sunblock on it than her face probably needed.

They both laughed, and he flipped the tab closed, tossing it back onto the towel at their feet. "Sorry," he said, not sure exactly what she was going to do with it.

"Better safe than sorry?" she asked with a grin. She didn't mind though, because she had an idea. The hand now smeared in sunblock went to her face, and she dabbed a healthy amount on her forehead, cheeks and chin before looking back down at her hand. There was still _plenty_ of sunblock remaining, both on her fingers and on the palm of her hand, so she did what she thought was only fair – she reached up and began dabbing it on _his_ face instead, momentarily ignoring the fact that the sunblock on her own face wasn't spread out yet, or the fact that he'd already put sunblock on his face, for that matter. There was simply too much still on her hand to be able to work with what she'd just put on her own face without getting rid of the excess. At least, that was how _she_ rationalized what she was doing.

He smiled when he realized that she was putting the extra sunblock on _his_ face, not minding even a little bit. She first used her fingers, moving gently across his forehead, his cheeks, his nose… and when she was satisfied that her fingers were sufficiently cleaned off, she did the same with the inside of the palm of her hand, dragging it slowly across his face. Closing his eyes, he couldn't help but thank the bottle of sunblock of squirting out far too much, because he couldn't have asked for a better excuse to have her touching his face. When he finally felt the absence of her hand on his cheek, he opened his eyes and watched as she looked at it with satisfaction.

"You get all the extra off?" he asked her, as if he was just curious, and she hadn't just spent the last few minutes gently rubbing her hand across his face.

"Yep, I think so," she replied, smiling shyly. She swiped at the sunblock on her own face, but really didn't do a very good job spreading it out. It was, after all, her first attempt, and she was doing it without a mirror. He chuckled at her and shook his head as she looked at him innocently.

 _Or_ _ **does she**_ _know that she didn't really get it spread out?_ he wondered…

"What?" she asked, as if she had no idea why he was laughing. Since he was holding her left hand in his right, he was at a slight disadvantage – which had allegedly led to this "problem" in the first place – but he brought his free hand up to her face to try to spread out the globs of sunblock anyway. Luckily, she'd left him quite a bit to work with, and he took his time, since unlike him, she didn't already _have_ a layer of it on her face. All kidding aside, he really _didn't_ want her getting sunburnt the first time she went to the beach.

She stared at him as he worked, and watched his eyes darting from one section of her face to another, his fingers gently moving across her skin. In a way, this was better than when he'd put sunblock on her back (though of course, after the initial blast of cold, it had _not_ been unpleasant), because she hadn't had to be frozen half to death first, and also, she could look at him as he worked... The sensation of his fingers on her face was different than on her back, but equally as nice. She silently wished that she'd left even _more_ extra sunblock on her, as he seemed to be finished far sooner than she would have liked.

"The thing about sunblock," he said as he dragged his fingers slowly across her face one last time, "is that it doesn't last all day. You have to reapply it at least every few hours, or your skin absorbs it and you still end up getting sunburn. I think the bottle actually says every _eighty minutes_." He slowly took his hand off of her face and smiled at her as if he wasn't trying to say anything other than to give her information about sunblock, and watched as understanding crept across her face. She bit the side of her lip and smiled, thinking that that might be the best news she'd heard in a long time.

"Ready to go down to the water? I think you have enough sunblock on now," he said, glancing down toward the water where Sarah and Sawyer were now mostly wet, still splashing each other and playing in the waves.

"Sounds good," she said, and then because she couldn't help herself, she tugged on his hand and, when he turned to look at her again, she asked, "Are you sure I have enough sunblock on me?"

"For now, yes. You'll need to reapply it later, of course," he told her. When she pretended to pout for a second, he rolled his eyes at her, squeezed her hand and tugged her along toward the water. "Not too much later," he said as they walked toward the water side by side. She couldn't help but break into a smile, deciding that she definitely liked the beach.

Especially now that she knew that sunblock only lasted a few hours.


	4. Waves

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: I just want to say that you guys are wonderful and sweet with your reviews and I'm happy that you're enjoying this story. I know that we'll be snapped back to the reality of Blindspot in another few weeks, but in the meantime, I'm perfectly happy to live in this little happy Jeller bubble._

When Jane and Kurt reached the water's edge, they paused, looking for Sarah and Sawyer. They found them not too far away, further out into the water and a little ways to the left. "The current pulled them down the beach a little bit," Kurt explained. "The further out you go, the stronger the current under the water is, and even if you try to stay still, it tugs at you. If you're out in the waves, like they are," he looked out at his sister and nephew, who were jumping over waves as tall as the eleven year old, "It can move you pretty far down the beach pretty fast."

Jane nodded, thinking, _Check your surroundings, be aware of the current. Got it._

"But you're planning to come in the water _with_ me, right?" she asked.

"Of course," he replied. He was perfectly happy to stay by her side the whole weekend. "I just wanted to make sure you knew."

Just then, as they were looking at each other, one of the bigger waves to hit the beach that morning happened to reach them, sweeping past their feet and licking at their legs well past their ankles. Jane's eyes opened wide in surprise and her grip on his hand tightened. "Wow! That's cold!" she gasped in surprise.

He chuckled at her, nodding, then said, "Yeah, the water along this part of the coast won't warm up until sometime in August. It's still early in the season…"

She looked back out at Sarah and Sawyer, who were almost fully immersed in the water. Sounding genuinely surprised, she asked, "And people swim in the water when it's this cold?"

Kurt smiled, and replied, "Some do. Some wait til later in the summer. But then, we probably won't be here later in the summer… It's been _years_ since I was at any beach. Sarah will vouch for that."

"Too much work to do?" she asked him jokingly, knowing that that was exactly it – work never ended, and he never took time off. She didn't think he really _wanted_ to take time off, either. At least, he'd never done it voluntarily that she could remember… Not that she did either – her only time away from work had _not_ exactly been her choosing, after all. She looked over at him, but glanced up to keep track of the waves every few seconds.

He bobbed his head affirmatively, pretending that she didn't already know the answer. "Well, yeah… one case then another case… The bad guys never seem to take any time off, after all. Then one day we found this woman covered in tattoos… It was hard to think about anything else but her – _work_ – after that."

Jane couldn't help but smile at him. "What made _her_ so unusual?" she asked, playing along.

"Well," he began thoughtfully, "she needed our help, but she wanted to _help us_ at the same time. We tried to explain to her that that wasn't how it worked… but, well, she wasn't really good at taking no for an answer."

"So you just gave in? That easily? _You?_ " she asked in amusement.

"Not exactly," he said, remembering his annoyance when they needed her as their Chinese translator, and not just once on the same case. "We discovered that we needed her… And besides, there was always just… something about her. Stubborn as she was, I liked having her around." He thought back to their few arguments at the beginning, about the little things, like whether she would stay with the car… "Though it did take a little adjustment for all of us."

She was smiling at him, curious to see what else he would say. "The tattoos led us all over the place, getting to expose all kind of things that people were doing wrong. So not only did we get the chance to solve lots of new cases because of her, but we got… her. As part of our team." Glancing from the incoming waves and then back to him, she shook her head and chuckled in amusement at his oversimplified version of their history.

"What can I saw? I lucked out," he added.

"Hmmmm," she replied, not quite sure what to say. The change in pronoun – 'we' to 'I' – hadn't escaped her notice.

"As far as the water temperature goes…" he said, getting back to the topic at hand, "really, it's like anything else. You just have to get used to it." She looked at him skeptically, then back down at the water.

 _It's like anything else… you just have to get used to it_ , she repeated in her head.Well, she'd gotten used to lots of things in the past few years… all things considered, chilly water didn't seem like too big a deal. And she really did want to go swimming. After all, who knew when she'd get back to the beach again?

Just then, another wave rolled toward them. He tugged on her hand and they walked a few steps forward, and he watched her brace herself against the incoming water. She didn't react with as much surprise this time as she had to the first one, he noticed, and when he took a few more steps out into the water, she seemed to be fine with it.

This particular beach, referred to as Oceanfront, was relatively flat, and swimmers had to wade out a good distance in order to do anything that remotely resembled "swimming." This made it an ideal beach for all ages, since you could wade in the shallow water or go out deeper, as long as you were careful of the waves. Despite her initial reaction, it soon became apparent that Jane was _not_ one of the people who would wait until the water warmed up in August before she went swimming. Before they knew it, they'd made it little by little out to where Sarah and Sawyer were jumping over the waves as they rolled in.

"Jane! Uncle Kurt!" Sawyer cried in surprise. "You guys came in!"

"Hey, buddy," Kurt said to his nephew, as Jane grinned, watching Sarah give her a knowing look.

They all stopped talking and paid attention to the incoming wave just then, since this one was noticeably taller than Sawyer – perhaps the tallest one yet. "You jump up just before the wave comes in," Kurt called to Jane over the sound of the water. She nodded, watching it, and glancing at him. Following his lead, just before the wave reached them she pushed off the bottom and rode the wave to the top, feeling Kurt squeezing her hand tighter. Everyone around them in the water, whether they knew them or not, looked elated as the wave passed by them on its way to crash into the shore. Within a minute, the water level returned to where it had been, below their shoulders, as if the wave had never been there at all.

Kurt looked over at Jane and saw that she looked just as excited at riding the wave as he'd hoped she would. He hadn't done this in years, and he remembered now how much fun it was, and how much he'd missed it. He could say the same thing about a lot of things in his life… he'd never been what he would describe as 'carefree' or 'fun loving' – most people would sooner call him 'serious' or 'hardworking' or 'trustworthy…' which, of course, weren't a bad things, but the fun things, the ones that most people tended to seek out, those were things that Kurt had tended to ignore in favor of, well, _work_. He'd been that guy for most of his life – serious, focused… It was strange now – in a good way – to actually _enjoy_ the regular things that people tended to enjoy, like a day off of work at the beach, riding the waves. That difference, he knew, was all because of Jane.

For those seconds that they'd been riding the wave, Jane had felt like just another person at the beach, instead of the girl with "all those tattoos and no memory," as she knew it was so easy to classify her – especially the tattoo part. Looking around them, the water wasn't what she would call crowded, but there were a fair share of other people around them. When the big wave receded, her shoulders and back now visible again, she felt as though her bare skin was now drawing more attention than it had before – even though that probably didn't make sense. Those few seconds of normalcy had made the difference feel more pronounced.

It was a common push-pull inside her head. In familiar situations, like at home, she was accustomed to her tattoos and the level of attention they drew. Besides, she wore more clothes at home than she was currently wearing. Not only that, but in New York lots of people had one extreme style or another, so she didn't stand out _quite_ as much. But here on the beach, where she was far more exposed than usual, it was different.

Kurt looked over at Jane to see that she had ducked down slightly, so that the water covered her shoulders. He crouched down beside her, bringing himself closer to her even though it meant having to bend his legs more than she did, since he was taller to start with. Only the tops of the bird on her neck were showing, and he wondered if she'd decided to lower herself into the water to cover her tattoos. While he wished that she didn't feel so self-conscious, it made sense. When the water reached her neck, she looked just like everyone else. Never mind that he didn't think she should aspire to be like everyone else, when she was so clearly extraordinary. When you had no choice but to be different, it was normal to crave the ability to blend in, to at least have the choice.

Standing at eye level with her was different, since usually he had a height advantage, and he couldn't help but turn and look straight into her eyes. She smiled at him, and now neither of them were paying attention to the waves rolling toward them… which was about to be a problem.

Without warning, there was a deafening roar as another huge wall of water crashed over them, except this time, they weren't riding it – this time, they were _under_ it. Somehow they managed to keep their hands clamped together, both of their impulses when they were hit by the water having been to hold on tighter. Still, for a few seconds they flailed around, trying to right themselves and to find the surface. Possibly by virtue of his height alone, Kurt got there first, turning toward Jane and putting his free arm around her waist, pulling her up as quickly as he could. They were both gasping for breath, standing and leaning against each other when the wave passed.

"I think that might be enough waves for right now," she said, still breathless, and he nodded, reluctantly letting go of her waist so they could walk back toward shore. He made eye contact with Sarah, who stood nearby with Sawyer. She looked at him questioningly, and he just nodded at her – _yes, we're okay_ – after which her eyes danced with laughter, and he got the feeling that she'd either seen the whole thing, or at least enough of it to figure out what had just happened. Wisely, she turned her attention back to the waves and her son as Jane and Kurt retreated. They made their way back toward the beach, several other waves hitting the backs of their legs as they walked through shallower and shallower water to the sand.

"And _that_ ," he told her as they reached the beach, their feet quickly becoming coated with tiny grains of sand as they walked back to their towels, "is why it's important to pay attention when you're swimming at the beach."

"Aren't you supposed to tell me these things _beforehand?"_ she asked in her best pretend serious voice, letting go of his hand so she could sit down facing the water. He sat down beside her – close, but not _quite_ touching her – grinning, and stretched his arms out behind him, leaning back on them.

Both of them were now soaked from head to toe, and he asked, "But what would be the fun in that?"

She turned and looked at him, shaking her head, and asked, "You know that's not the right answer, right?"

"But why not?" he replied, still grinning at her. She just shook her head at him, turning to look at the ocean and then pushing him playfully with her shoulder, without looking back at him.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't see you there," she said, now looking over at her shoulder at him, and sitting back up. He just chuckled and laid back on the towel, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes.

"Tired?" she asked him, turning partway around to look at him.

"Yeah, for some reason," he replied without opening his eyes. "So go ahead and stare at me now while you have the chance. I don't mind." She blushed slightly, but then punched him playfully in the side. His smiled widened, but he still didn't open his eyes. "Oh come on, you know you want to… "

"I do?" she asked, sounding surprised. _Do I?_ she asked herself. She was quickly losing track of reality vs. the line they were dancing back and forth on.

"Definitely," he replied, nodding confidently. "Oh, and If I don't wake up in another hour or so, would you put some more sunblock on me? _Please?_ " He did open his eyes then, looking at her with a look that was both mischievous and innocent at the same time, waiting to see her reaction.

"You wish," she said, raising her eyebrows at him and smiling.

"No? Why not?" he asked, feigning confusion.

"Well… what's in it for me?" she asked, though she had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"Hmmm… well, I could return the favor," he suggested innocently.

"Not if you're asleep," she pointed out. He considered the information carefully… or did a good impression of someone who was considering it.

"Okay, so then we both take a nap, and then wake up and remember to put on more sunblock. So we don't end up sunburned," he said, looking at her as if it made all the sense in the world.

"But then what if _neither_ of us wakes up in an hour?" she asked, knowing full well that he wasn't trying to make sense, only to be cute.

"I think we will. Besides, eventually Sarah and Sawyer will show up, and they'll wake us up to tell us how cute we are," he said, closing his eyes again.

She sat and looked at him, smiling, thinking more and more that his crazy sounding plan sounded good. He peeked an eye open at her.

"So?" he asked. He took his right arm out from under his head, laying it in the space beside him and patting the towel, then moving it out of her way, so it laid across his stomach. She shook her head at him, but turned and laid down on the towel beside him, her arms at her sides, angling her head just slightly so it rested against his shoulder. She closed her eyes against the glare of the sun, thinking that this plan of his actually did make a lot of sense. Feeling him shift slightly, she didn't bother to move or open her eyes, and so she was surprised when, a few seconds later, she felt his pinky hook itself around hers, the rest of his hand resting on the towel closer to him.

 _Wow, we really_ _ **are**_ _disgustingly cute,_ she thought, smiling, but keeping her eyes closed. Without stopping to think about it, she curled the fingers of her left hand in slowly, so that their pinkies were wound more tightly together, feeling him do the same a few seconds later, wondering if she would be able to fall asleep when her heart was beating so fast.

She did fall asleep, and it didn't take long. When she woke up again, the first thing she noticed was the sound of the ocean. _That's weird_ , she thought. _Why do I hear the ocean?_ It took a few seconds, but it came flooding back to her. She suddenly became aware that her pinkie was still wrapped around his and her head still rested on his shoulder. Before she'd even opened her eyes she was smiling. And that was when she noticed the feeling that someone was watching her. Of course, there were lots of people on the beach, and thanks to her tattoos any one of them could realistically have been watching her – which was more than a little creepy. Still, that seemed less likely.

When she finally decided to open her eyes a minute or so later, lifting her head off of his shoulder to look around, she found that someone was _indeed_ watching her – though it wasn't the Weller she'd expected it to be. Kurt was still sleeping, but Sarah was sitting on the other side of him on their line of towels, glancing back and forth between them and Sawyer, who was building a sandcastle just a little down the beach toward the water.

Jane smiled at her, slightly embarrassed, even though she had known that the likelihood of Sarah happening on them that way had been high. Kurt had even been counting on it. Sarah was grinning at her, as she'd been doing a lot since they'd picked her up back in New York, and she had obviously come to her own conclusions about what was happening between the two of them. Jane felt herself blushing slightly, but didn't mind. This was definitely a better kind of attention than she tended to inadvertently draw to herself.

"I swear, the two of you are just too cute," Sarah said, shaking her head. Jane shifted, trying to sit up without disturbing her left hand, where her pinky remained firmly wrapped around Kurt's. This proved more difficult that she'd expected, but she finally did accomplish it, placing the hand that was joined with his in her lap and facing Sarah.

"What time is it, anyway?" Jane asked, wondering how long she'd been asleep. She didn't think it could have been _too_ long… The sun didn't seem to have moved in the sky, after all.

Sarah glanced at her phone, which was beside her. "About 10:30. We haven't been here too long," she replied. If Jane didn't know better, she'd say there was a glint in Sarah's eyes that said she knew Jane was asking out of more than just curiosity.

 _Please tell me that all the Wellers aren't psychic,_ she thought to herself.

Just then, she heard a woman's voice behind her yell, "Sarah?" and Sarah looked up, startled, her face erupting into an excited grin a second later. Sarah jumped up and skipped forward, obviously having just recognized the woman, moving toward her as quickly as she could. Jane turned and looked over her shoulder at the pair. Sarah's friend had long, straight dark hair and dark eyes, slightly tanned skin, and was holding the hand of a small girl who had to have been her daughter, because she was absolutely a mirror image of her, but in miniature form. Sarah had bent down to greet the girl as well.

Feeling a tug on her hand, Jane turned back around and looked down to see that Kurt was now awake, blinking at the scene around him, and probably the noise of the two women nearby, talking animatedly.

"Hey," he said, sleep heavy in his voice. Jane had to admit her heart skipped a beat just a little hearing that sleepiness in his voice… and combined with the way he was looking at her? She was lucky she could remember her own name at that moment. "What's going on _here_?"

"Apparently Sarah just ran into a friend of hers," Jane replied, though that much seemed obvious. "Sawyer's over there building a sand castle," she added, pointing to where Sawyer worked, appearing to be deep in concentration. Kurt glanced over at him, then nodded, looking back at Jane with a sleepy smile still on his face.

"And how are _you_?" he asked her. "Did you get a nap?"

"I did," she replied, unable to contain her smile after he made sure to ask how _she_ was doing. "And then I woke up and Sarah informed me that we were _too cute_ again."

He chuckled at that, and asked, "Can I call it, or what?"

They glanced back up at Sarah and her friend, who were moving towards the empty towels on the other side of Kurt to sit down. Kurt tugged on Jane's hand, their pinkies still looped together, pulling her closer to him. She had pulled herself all the way up to sit cross-legged, facing him, and now that he had tugged her closer, she sat with her knees against his side. With Jane nearby, Kurt could now push himself back up on his elbows without having to let go of the one finger of hers that he had possession of.

"Mara," Sarah was saying, "This is my brother, Kurt, and… that's Jane," Sarah said, nodding at her. Jane couldn't help noticing that no explanation of her identity was given, however, the reason was pretty obvious. The real story was long and complicated, and even the shorter version was still complicated, because what would she have said? "This is the FBI asset that my brother's in love with?" No, none of the three of them would have known how to classify Jane and Kurt's relationship. Luckily, however, the fact that they were almost holding hands took care of that for them, or so Sarah assumed. Mara could jump to her own conclusions.

Looking at Jane and Kurt, Sarah said, "Mara is a friend from college. How _weird_ is it to run into her here, of all places?" Both Jane and Kurt nodded in agreement. It certainly was unlikely, after all. Meanwhile, Mara's daughter had settled herself right on the other side of Kurt, and was looking up at him intently.

"And this little peanut," Mara added, "is my daughter, Megan."

Megan continued to stare at Kurt, a smile slowly forming on her lips as she looked at him. "How old you are you, Megan?" Jane asked, noticing that the girl hadn't once taken her eyes off of Kurt since she'd sat down beside him. Without a word, and without looking away from Kurt, Megan slowly held up three fingers, one at a time, as if she was counting them out as she went.

"Three, huh?" Kurt asked, smiling back at her. She nodded shyly. Sarah and Mara dove back into conversation about how each of them had been, their mutual friends, and all the kinds of things that friends who haven't seen each other for a while tend to talk about.

Jane leaned down toward Kurt and said quietly, "I think you have an admirer."

He tilted his head up in her direction before she had a chance to sit back up, and nodded, replying seriously, "I think you may have competition."

"Oh?" she asked, raising her eyebrows. "I'm one of your admirers, am I?"

"You're _not?_ " he asked her, looking disappointed.

She just smiled at him, but then shook her head. "Sadly, there's no _way_ I can compete with that level of cuteness," she said remorsefully.

"I don't know," Kurt said, looking at her as if he was pretending to consider whether she could compete with the three year old. "You're pretty cute, too." Jane grinned and shook her head at him.

"Hey, Megan," Kurt said to the girl. "We know a boy named Sawyer who's building a big sand castle over there," he told her. "Do you want to come and help him?"

Megan's eyes left Kurt for the first time as she looked back at her mother, asking for permission to go over to where the sand castle was being built. Mara smiled back at her. "Go ahead, I'll be right here," she told her daughter. They pushed themselves up, Kurt finally dropping Jane's hand to make standing up easier. Before she knew it, Jane saw Megan put her hand in Kurt's and tug him toward where Sawyer had at least half of a giant castle compound built. Jane followed behind them, smiling at how cute this little girl was, and even more than that, how in love Megan seemed to be with Kurt.

As the three of them walked away, Jane heard Sarah tell her friend, "My brother has been in love with her for the past two years, but this weekend is the first time I've even seen them hold hands… but there has always been something there." Though no one was looking at her – except possibly a few strangers looking at her tattoos – Jane felt herself blushing. She didn't really think that it was true… not _really…_ though yes, maybe there had been _something_ there all that time… but Kurt in love with her for the past two years? No… It was a little strange to hear that said out loud.

Sawyer was glad to see reinforcements coming to join his construction crew, and he set everyone to work right away – telling them which buckets to fill with which kind of sand, when to turn them over and where to put them, where to continue digging the mote that he'd already started… and on and on. Clearly he had a very specific vision for his castle. The whole time, Megan kept herself right beside Kurt, to Jane's amusement. The girl was _so_ cute, and Kurt was very good with her, asking her to help him with things that a three year old could reasonably be expected to accomplish. Jane became Sawyer's main assistant, which included mostly filling buckets with sand.

Finally, the sandcastle complex was finished. "It's so fancy," Megan said softly beside Kurt, looking very much in awe at what they'd built.

Kurt chuckled beside her. "Yes, it _is_ fancy, isn't it?" he asked. To Sawyer, he said, "The student has become the master. I'm very impressed, kid." Sawyer beamed happily, looking from his uncle to Jane.

"What do you think, Jane?" he asked.

"I can honestly say it's the most amazing sandcastle I've ever seen," she told him sincerely. She really hadn't seen many sandcastles, but she didn't need to mention that, of course. Sawyer looked more and more excited.

"I'm going to get my mom to take a picture of it!" he said excitedly, standing up and scrambling back to where Sarah and Mara were sitting and talking. A minute later, the two mothers walked around to the front of the sand castle, which faced the water, and stood beside Jane, who'd been standing there and admiring it as well.

"Wow," Sarah said, looking at all the details appreciatively. "Sawyer, I think this is your best one."

"I thought so, but I wasn't sure…" Sawyer agreed, grinning from ear to ear. "Can you take a picture of it? And of our construction crew?"

Sarah smiled in amusement, looking up at their 'crew.' "Of course," she said. "Sit down behind it, so I can see you and your masterpiece," she told him. She clicked her phone on and pulled up the camera, waiting for it to focus. She was getting ready to take the picture when Sawyer spotted Jane standing beside his mom.

"Mom, wait! Jane, come get in the picture!" he insisted. Jane started to protest, but Sarah rolled her eyes at her. "Go…" she instructed Jane, nudging her toward the group. "Go sit next to Kurt," she told her, knowing that that would convince her. Sure enough, the protest Jane had planned to voice was suddenly gone, and she walked slowly around the large sandcastle complex, past Megan, who'd claimed one side of Kurt, to the space between Kurt and Sawyer.

Kneeling down and shifting to move a mound of sand that was unexpectedly under her right knee, Jane put her right hand on Kurt's shoulder to steady herself. He glanced over at her, smiling with a warmth that immediately made her face flush. She not only left her hand resting on his shoulder after she'd finished dealing with the sand under her knee, but she let her forearm fall against his back, as well.

It wasn't until after the picture had been taken that Jane looked down and saw that Megan had climbed into Kurt's lap. Glancing at his face, she saw that he looked both very amused and very unsure what to do next. Sawyer had stood up and was talking with some other kids, who had stopped to admire their creation, and Sarah and Mara had walked back to the towels to sit down. "Hey Megan," Jane said to the girl, who looked at her slowly, not quite sure about this stranger who she clearly didn't like as much as she liked Kurt. "Do you want to go walk down the beach and look at another big sandcastle?" Megan just looked at her, her eyes wide, but didn't answer.

She looked at Kurt and shrugged, as if to say, _I tried._

"Do you want to, Megan? All three of us?" he asked. He was amused to find that when _he_ asked her, she nodded earnestly, right away. Jane just shook her head, rolling her eyes and smiling at Kurt, as he grinned back at her. "Okay then, let's stand up," he said. Jane stood up first, still balanced against his back and shoulder, letting go of him reluctantly. Megan stood up next, accepting only Kurt's help, and Kurt last. "Ok, let's just go ask your mommy, okay?" he asked her. Megan nodded and grabbed his hand without a word, tugging him toward where her mother and Sarah had settled back down to chat.

"Okay if we walk down the beach a little bit to that next sandcastle?" Kurt asked Mara as he was pulled, more forcefully than he'd expected, towards the women sitting on the towels.

"Sure," Mara replied. "Not too far, though. We need to leave in about…" she looked down at her watch. "…Twenty minutes."

"Not a problem," Kurt said, already being pulled away. He looked at Jane, who was standing a few feet from him. She'd been standing and suddenly wondering if she was about to be left behind with Sarah and Mara. Not that they weren't nice and everything, but…

Kurt stopped momentarily in front of her, though she could tell from the way he had braced himself that Megan was exerting a large amount of energy pulling on him. "You're coming with me, aren't you?" he asked, taking her hand. She chuckled as the two of them were pulled by a surprisingly strong three year old along the beach toward a small group of kids that appeared to be admiring another sandcastle, not too far away.

"I think she's in love with you," Jane said, leaning closer to him so that she could be heard over the waves and not have to raise her voice. He smiled, turning to look at her before she had a chance to pull back, and finding their faces suddenly very close together.

"Jealous?" he asked her, grinning broadly. She made a face at him and pushed her shoulder gently into his upper arm, trying not to make him lose his balance since he was holding Megan's hand, as well. She'd seen him with kids a few times, but never one so young, or who was so instantly and completely smitten with him. To Jane's surprise, he let go of her hand, but less than a split second later, he'd put his arm around her waist, pulling her closer. He leaned down to speak near her ear, and said, "Don't worry, you're still my favorite."

She could feel her cheeks getting warm, and she punched him gently in the arm, as she seemed to do quite a lot lately… after that, she simply leaned into him as they kept walking toward the group of kids ahead. They slowed to a stop as they approached, and Kurt's arm dropped from her waist, his hand finding hers once again.

At the center of the group of kids, they saw a girl with shoulder length wavy blonde hair, who appeared to be about Sawyer's age, telling the kids who had gathered around to look at her castle to back up, and not to touch it. It seemed like a safe assumption that that she was the builder of the castle, since she was so protective of it.

Megan turned and looked up at Kurt, her large, dark eyes filled with wonder, then she tugged at his hand once again. "Come on," she said over her shoulder to Kurt, not letting go of her grip on his hand. He turned and smiled at Jane, saying, "Apparently we're going closer." She just shook her head, giving him a teasing look but saying nothing, allowing herself to be pulled along behind Kurt and his new 3 year old best friend.

Megan found a closer angle from which she could look at the castle, admiring it quietly while the group of kids – all older than she was – talked excitedly around her. She listened to the chatter, listened to the girl who'd built the castle talk a little bit about it, and then finally she seemed to be satisfied with their excursion, tugging Kurt back in the direction of Sawyer's sandcastle, which had begun to attract a little bit of attention as well.

As they reached Sawyer's sandcastle, they saw that Mara and Sarah were now standing up, still talking animatedly. When Mara saw them, she waved, calling out to her daughter. Megan began walking toward her mother obediently, still holding onto Kurt's hand firmly. Jane let go of his other hand, which made him turn around and look at her in surprise. She was standing with the crowd of kids admiring Sawyer's sandcastle, and waved her hand in the direction of the girl's mother, indicating that he should go on without her, figuring that it was probably time for him to return the adorable little girl to her mother anyway. Megan's apparent love for Kurt was unbelievably cute, and only showed her once again how good he was with kids.

What she saw when they reached Mara and Sarah, on the other hand, was a little… unsettling. Megan didn't appear to have any intention of letting go of Kurt's hand, and as Jane tried specifically not to watch the exchange taking place not far away, attempting to concentrate on the other kids surrounding Sawyer, she found herself doing exactly the opposite. She watched as Mara spoke earnestly to Kurt, appearing to gush over something that Jane couldn't guess. How great he was with her? Perhaps. Asking him if he had kids of his own? Maybe. Checking his hand for a wedding ring? Somehow, just from looking at Mara, Jane couldn't help but think that it wouldn't surprise her if that was exactly what she was doing.

As Jane watched, Mara went so far as to put her hand on Kurt's arm, leaving it there while she was talking. Again, she forced her eyes away from the scene, glancing at Sawyer's castle, but her eyes went back to the three adults and one three year old of their own accord. Mara's hand was still on his arm, and she appeared to have leaned closer to him.

Kurt, to his credit, bent down to talk to Megan, thus freeing his arm from Mara's extended grasp. He couldn't see Jane, since he was facing away from her, but he had absolutely no doubt that she was watching, especially after Mara had seemed to attach herself to him. He couldn't know this woman's intentions, but _his_ only intention was to get away from her. Now on Megan's eye level, he smiled sincerely at her.

"It was very nice to meet you, Megan," he said kindly. "but I think it's time to go with your mommy now."

Megan shook her head stubbornly, managing to still be adorable at the same time, the way only a three year old can. Kurt chuckled, now attempting to peel her fingers from his hand – how could a three year old _be_ so strong, anyway?

"Okay sweetheart, give me a hug and then it's time to go, okay?" he asked her. Megan seemed to think about this for a few seconds, before she nodded and let go of his hand, attempting to reach her arms all the way across his shoulders. He chuckled at her, giving her a hug and then standing back up, folding his arms in an attempt to keep her from grabbing his hand again. Megan did not look happy.

"Thank you so much," Mara was saying again. "You're so good with her…" She laid _her_ hand on Kurt's arm, just above his elbow, _again_ , and looked as if she was about to say something else. A long few seconds went by, during which Mara simply stared at Kurt, to the point where he was definitely feeling awkward.

"Mara," Sarah's voice cut through the background noise of the waves, seagulls and children's squeals of delight around them.

"What? Oh, right…" Mara replied, straightening the bag on her shoulder. "So nice to meet you, Kurt. Have a great weekend." As she withdrew her hand from his arm – and he swore that she did it reluctantly – she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek, then withdrew and, without looking at him again, turned and hugged Sarah, saying that she hoped that she'd see her soon.

Kurt was confused by Mara's behavior, but just looked down at Megan and smiled. The girl was still looking at him adoringly, now holding her mother's hand. He dropped his arms and waved to her, told both of them, "Nice to meet you," one more time, and then excused himself to walk back to Jane.

She wasn't used to the feeling she got while watching the exchange between Kurt and Mara. The only thing she could compare it to had been watching Kurt with Allie, despite the fact that logically she knew that it wasn't anything like that had been. Realizing that she wasn't going to be able to stand where she was standing and _not_ watch them, Jane had turned and walked to the water's edge, wading a little ways into the water so that the tallest waves were hitting her just below her knees. She had her hands on her hips, for lack of anything better to do with them just then, not wanting to put herself into a completely defensive looking posture by wrapping her arms around herself, though she wanted to. There she stood, determined not to think about what was happening behind her – and so of course, thinking of nothing else.

He didn't see her by Sawyer's sandcastle, where he'd left her, which he didn't necessarily take as a good sign. Of course, she stuck out of the crowd and it was only a matter of seconds before he saw her, standing in the shallow water and looking out at the ocean. He splashed out into water after her, noticing as he got closer than she looked very… _tense._ He smiled, though he knew the situation wasn't funny from her perspective, because he couldn't help but find her annoyance… cute.

She was thinking too hard, she knew, but she didn't seem to be able to stop. The loud crashing of the waves seemed to match the deafening roar inside her head, though neither was saying anything in particular, only combining to elevate her stress level. _You're being silly… no,_ _ **ridiculous**_ she told herself, but found that she was unable to listen to her own assurances.

And then, suddenly there was a splashing sound right behind her, followed quickly by arms wrapping around her bare waist, his face leaning down beside hers so that their cheeks were touching. Turning his face slightly toward hers, he asked, "What'd I miss?"

"Nothing," she sighed, leaning against him reluctantly. She did _not_ like this feeling, whatever it was.

 _Don't you see how he's acting, silly…?_ the voice in her head told her. _You have nothing to worry about._

 _Still…_ No, she didn't like this feeling one bit.

He couldn't be sure what part of the scene with Mara that Jane had seen, but judging from the tension he'd seen in her when he'd approached, and that he could still feel in her now, she'd seen more than she'd wanted to. He wanted to believe that she knew she had nothing to worry about when it came to him, but he also knew that Jane didn't have the experiences – at least in her memory – that most people did, and it was part of what made her so vulnerable. Whatever Sarah's friend, Mara, had been thinking… well, it didn't matter to him _what_ she'd been thinking, and it was important to him that Jane knew that.

"It's not just Megan who's a fan of yours, I guess," he heard her say. "It must run in the family."

He smiled and turned his head just a little, which was enough to press his nose into her cheek. He held it there, breathing in and out against her. "You know it's all about you, right? Always has been."

She felt a strange sensation in her chest, like relief and falling at the same time. It was both comforting and scary all at once. It was what she wanted to hear, and yet…

Before she realized what he was doing, he'd tilted his head up slightly and kissed her cheek, slowly, letting his lips rest against her skin even after the actual kiss was finished. While slow, it still happened much too fast, she thought. Just like everything else between them, there was a depth of emotion in that tiny kiss that words wouldn't have conveyed even if he'd tried to use them.

She leaned against him for an extra few seconds, surprised, and realizing that she'd held her breath for a second. Not wanting that particular moment to be over, she turned reluctantly and looked in his eyes as he slowly pulled back to look at her. She noticed that the way he looked at her then was pretty much the same way he had looked at her almost from the beginning – she just hadn't always understood what it meant. With only a few exceptions, which were now firmly in the past, there was always unwavering devotion in his eyes for her… because that was how he felt, plain and simple. She couldn't help but smile back at him.

"You ready to go back in the water again?" he asked her, looking out at the waves. She glanced back out toward the horizon in the distance, and suddenly she felt his cheek leaning against hers again.

"Maybe," she shrugged, thinking that she was actually fine where she was. "But here's not so bad either." He chuckled at her, certainly not about to disagree.

"Then again," he said thoughtfully, "we should probably put on more sunblock before we go getting drenched again…"

She turned slightly to look at him in surprise. "Is it time already?" _Not_ that she was complaining, of course.

"Just about," he said, though he actually had no idea what time it was. "Better safe than sorry, right?" he asked innocently. He could feel her shaking her head and chuckling at him without actually looking at her.

He finally unclasped his hands from around her waist and reached for her hand, and they walked back up the sand, past Sawyer, who was still enjoying his few minutes of fame, back to the towels. Sarah was standing there, looking from Sawyer, to the ocean, and now at them as they approached. She looked worried.

"Kurt, I'm sorry, I don't know what she was thinking," Sarah said as soon as they approached. "I mean, it was pretty obvious that you guys… I mean… I don't know…" Sarah didn't seem to be able to find any words that she was actually happy with, to her dismay. "I haven't seen her in years… so I really can't explain why…"

He just shook his head, grinning at his sister. "It's fine. I mean, I know I'm irresistible…" he said with a shrug and a smug look on his face, earning him a punch in the arm from Jane and a relieved eyeroll from Sarah.

"Oh, right, okay," Sarah replied, glad that her college friend didn't seem to have made any waves between Jane and Kurt. "Well, speaking of unpredictable people you meet on the beach, I'm just going to vet Sawyer's little groupies down there…" she said, starting toward the group of girls standing around Sawyer, a protective look on her face.

Kurt sat down the towel once again, and Jane did the same. He grabbed a bottle of sunblock and shook it, then tossed it aside after determining that it was empty. Picking up another bottle, he shook it and then began spraying it on his arms. When Jane held out her arms expectantly as he finished spraying his own arms, he sprayed hers too, and then they both rubbed the sunblock in. They repeated the process with their legs, shoulders and chests. "Lean back," he told her. "You need some on your stomach." She smiled and raised her eyebrows at him but said nothing – he wasn't wrong, after all – leaning back against her elbows with her legs out in front of her. The spray wasn't as cold as it felt on her back, but it did tickle, making her jump a little, and he chuckled as she made a face, and then rubbed it into her skin as he just watched her in amusement.

She sat back up and saw him grab the face lotion bottle, squeezing it into his hand and then to her surprise, turning to her. "Better let me handle this," he told her.

"Oh yeah?" she asked. "Why's that?"

He was already gently dabbing the sunblock on her face. "Because you," he told her evenly as his fingers moved over her face, "are terrible at it." She tried to pretend to be offended, but she just ended up laughing. "Hold still," he told her, putting his palm against her cheek to stop her from moving. "I don't want to get it in your eyes – and trust me, you don't want that either."

"Okay. Sorry," she replied, though she was definitely _not_ sorry for moving after his hand had gone to her cheek. She attempted to be serious again, as directed, but simultaneously wanted to move _more_ so that he'd put his hand up against her cheek again. He continued to swipe gently at her skin, and she closed her eyes only when he worked on the area around her eyes. Otherwise, it was simply more fun to watch him.

Finally, after what was probably a far more thorough job than was necessary, he withdrew his hand and squeezed more sunblock onto it, this time swiping it quickly across his own face. A minute or so later, he stopped and looked at her intently, waiting for her to inspect his work. "So, how'd I do?" he asked. She just shook her head. Of course she couldn't be sure, but she suspected that he'd done less work on rubbing it in that time than the previous time, leaving her more of an excuse to rub his face as well.

She grinned at him, shaking her head, but he feigned innocence and just smiled at her as she rubbed in the white streaks on his face. Even though she'd watched him just as intently while he'd rubbed the sunblock on her face, she felt slightly self-conscious about how closely he was watching her just then. Now finished, she withdrew her hand slowly from his face and wondered if she was blushing yet _again_. It seemed to be a constant with her this weekend.

"If you lay on your stomach, I'll get your back," he said, breaking into her thoughts.

 _He says that so innocently,_ she thought. Not that she thought he meant anything else by it, but… she looked at him for a few second, and then slowly lowered herself onto her stomach, preparing to be assaulted by the icy sunblock.

 _She gets flustered so easily,_ he thought as she looked at him before turning to lay down. He found it endlessly amusing. "Ready?" he asked, once she was situated.

"I guess so," she replied, as he watched all of the muscles in her back tighten.

"Hmmmm… Let's see if this helps," he said, laying his left hand on her lower back. He let it sit there for a second, noticing that she seemed less tense, at least for the moment. "Okay?" She just nodded. He started spraying her upper back, and then, when that was finished, switched hands so that he could rest his right hand on her upper back, slowly rubbing in the sunblock while his hand was there, and sprayed her lower back. Finished spraying, he asked, "Was that any better?"

"Yes, it was," she said, resting her head on her folded arms, facing him. "For fear of feeding your already oversized ego, that was brilliant."

He turned his attention to rubbing in the sunblock on her shoulders, then working his way down her back. _I need to remember to buy Sarah dinner, or wine, or_ _ **something**_ , he thought. _This may be the best way possible to spend a day off of work._ When he finished rubbing the sunblock in, he was once again distracted by tracing the lines of her tattoos, which he thought he could do for hours. He glanced up and saw that her eyes were closed, and the longer he traced her tattoos, the bigger the smile on her face until finally she opened her eyes and picked up her head slightly, looking at him.

"I'm not complaining about what you're doing," she told him, "but I get the feeling that it has nothing to do with sunblock anymore."

Laying his hands down flat against her skin, he laughed and replied, "I have no idea what you're talking about." She looked at him skeptically, holding in a laugh.

"Alright, well I'll stop then," he said. "It's my turn anyway." He laid down on his stomach beside her, passing her the bottle of sunblock.

She sat up, realizing that she probably shouldn't have said anything and just let him continue with what he was doing. _Next time_ , she thought, and then immediately thought, _Oh really? Next time, huh?_ He was watching her, she realized, with an amused look on his face. Picking up the bottle of sunblock, she shook it while considering whether to try out his new technique. He hadn't complained about the cold on _his_ back, however, somehow she didn't think he would _dislike_ her hand there, either. Again, knowing that he was still watching her and was probably quite amused by now, she slowly laid her left hand on the middle of his back and began spraying… because why not? It was a relatively safe bet, after all. Making a point not to glance back at his face, figuring that he'd just be chuckling about her, she got on with it.

He felt her hand on his back before she started spraying, and he smiled. He'd wondered if she was going to copy his idea, even though the cold on his back hadn't bothered him much. You certainly wouldn't hear him complaining about his hand on her back. She sprayed the sunblock slowly and methodically all over his back, and then took her time rubbing it in, just as he had done. She could say almost for sure that neither of them was going to end of sunburned – or, if they did, it wouldn't be for lack of trying not to.

Finally, she lifted her hands off of his back, slowly, laying down on her stomach beside him. His eyes were closed, but when she laid down beside him and folded her arms under her head, just the way he had, their elbows touched and he opened his eyes. Suddenly he was looking directly into her eyes, and it surprised her for a second, so that she almost forgot to breathe.

 _Since when did I have to remember to breathe?_

 _Easy,_ the voice in her head replied, _since you two finally figured out there was something between you. Which, by the way, took way longer than it should have…_

This thought made her smile without even realizing it.

"What?" he asked. She looked at him in confusion, which made him chuckle. "What's with the big goofy smile on your face?" She pretended to narrow her eyes at him.

"What? Aren't I allowed to be _mysterious_? Besides, I'm pretty sure you already know," she said.

He scooted his head closer to her, though still resting on his arms. "What do I know?" he asked, now almost whispering.

She just smiled at him, shaking her head slightly. _Nope,_ she thought, _not out loud._ "Should we go back in the water?" she asked him, changing the subject and smiling innocently.

"Do you want to?" he replied.

"Well, it's fun… we just have to pay more attention to the waves," she grinned.

"I'll try," he said, "but you're very distracting."

"I am _not_ ," she protested, laughing. What in the world was he talking about?

"Then why am I so distracted by you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her, challenging her to find another explanation.

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Maybe you should get that checked out." She bit her lip to hold back her laughter.

Looking at her thoughtfully, he said, "I don't know… I don't think it's curable."

"That's a shame," she replied, trying to pretend to look sympathetic while remembering to breathe. Because he wasn't really saying…

 _If you don't already know that that's what he's saying, and that the same applies to you too, for that matter, you're worse off than I thought,_ the voice in her head told her.

"No, not really," he replied, staring at her mischievously. "I'm totally okay with it." Neither of them spoke for a moment. They were both suddenly unwilling to take the game they were playing any farther than they already had. The look on her face made him wonder if he'd already gone one step too far, so he just smiled at her, the same earnest smile that he'd always reserved only for her, and watched her face relax with relief.

 _You should know better than to worry like that,_ she told herself. _He would do_ _ **anything**_ _for you, and you know it._

She relaxed and smiled, feeling silly for worrying. "So… back in the water?" she asked again. "We _are_ at the beach. It's what we're supposed to do here."

"If it will make you happy, then sure," he said, pushing himself up slowly. She turned over and reached up to take the hand he offered her, pulling her up.

Once she was standing, she let go of his hand quickly then exclaimed, "I'll race you!" before suddenly turning and sprinting toward the water. He shook his head and took off after her, thinking that either way, he'd already won.


	5. King Neptune, Towels and Lunch

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: This chapter took a backseat to The Aftermath for a few days, but now that that one is done, I can give this my full attention. And for those who've wondered if I'm going to continue I See You (several people have asked lately), the answer is yes. I've had so many Blindspot fics going this summer, that one got a little bit left behind… but I promise, I will get back to it soon._

Jane had already dashed out into the water, significantly farther than Kurt had expected, by the time he caught up with her. The waves were larger than usual that day, as they'd already discovered the hard way, though at that moment the water lapped gently against her mid-section. However, they could see the ones that would require their full attention rolling in.

"Hey," he said, finally catching up with her and stopping at her side. "You're out here pretty far… the waves out here are going to be…"

"Crazy, yeah," she agreed, an excited twinkle in her eyes as she glanced up at him, her eyes immediately going back to the water ahead of them. She'd learned her lesson, after all. "Just keep your eyes on the waves this time, Weller," she told him jokingly.

"Hey, I think you were as guilty of that as I was," he replied, pretending to be offended. A wave approached, growing bigger the closer it got. He glanced at her quickly in anticipation.

"Eyes on the _water_ ," she repeated without looking at him, somehow knowing that he was looking at her instead of ahead of the waves.

"Fine," he mumbled, stepping behind her and putting his arms around her waist. Then in a low voice in her ear, he asked "Happy now? My eyes are on the water." To say that she was surprised would have been an understatement, but she didn't have time to focus on that, because just then the wave rolled toward them. They pushed off of the sandy ocean bottom simultaneously to ride to the top of the wave together, the current depositing them farther down the beach than either of them had expected.

She turned her head slightly, towards him, brushing the scruff on his face with her cheek, finding that his face remained very close to hers. "Now who's not watching the water?" he said, again into her ear, and she felt a shiver run down her spine. This had to be some kind of dream, obviously – the whole weekend. It couldn't really be _happening_ … They weren't the same Jane and Kurt who worked together at the FBI, who had successfully avoided any and all progress in any relationship – or anything _like_ a relationship – between them for the past two years (though they'd had a little help messing things up that first year). Or maybe it was just because they were at the beach? What were they going to—

"Think later," he said into her ear, "Right now, _jump_." And with that, before she had a chance to even turn her head, she felt him lift her off the ground, pulling her to the top of the water, where another wave was cresting just exactly where they were. She watched the horizon ahead of them while they rode the wave, feeling like he was holding onto her a little tighter that time.

 _Well, to be fair, it's good that he was, because you weren't paying attention, which you had just told_ _ **him**_ _to do,_ the voice in her head told her mockingly. She had a feeling she was not going to hear the end of that one.

As soon as their feet touched the sand, he was speaking into her ear again. "I'm sorry, what were you saying about watching the waves? Something about paying attention…?" She couldn't help but smile, and leaned into him unconsciously.

"Did I say something? Sorry, I don't remember…" she replied, pretending to be confused, and meanwhile staring out at the next wave, already approaching. While it was hard not to turn and look at him, she was liking this technique of riding the waves much better than just holding hands and hoping the current didn't separate them…

He shook his head, chuckling, both of which she could feel because they were so close together. It really was perfect, and she begged herself not to overthink it. Not to think about it _at all_ , actually, simply to rise and fall with the waves along with Kurt. Surely, at least for a little while, it could just be that simple…

They rode the waves this way for quite a while. It wasn't long before he'd lost count of how many waves had come and gone since they'd started, and that fact alone told him that they were probably a significant distance down the beach from where they started. After their feet once again touched the sand after a particularly big wave, she heard him say reluctantly, "We should check how far we've moved from where we started… we probably need to walk back before we end up miles away." Even though she knew he was right, she hated the idea of stopping what they were doing, of separating from him, even though they would be walking less than a foot away from each other. Even that was too far away.

Her face contorted in displeasure, and she looked at him sideways. The look on her face was one he could only describe as a glare, as she replied, "I've taken a vote, and the answer is 'no.'"

Continuing to look straight out at the water, he replied into her ear, his voice full of amusement, "You've taken a vote, have you? And who did you ask, exactly?"

"Just me," she replied, as if it was completely obvious.

"You didn't want to ask _my_ opinion?" he asked jokingly, pretending to be offended. "Aren't I a part of this?"

"You already said that you want to get out of the water, so your vote doesn't count," she replied, not caring how childish she sounded, and feeling his laughter against her back as her ears filled with the noise of the next wave, quickly approaching.

"As if you could get rid of me that easily, Jane," he growled in her ear, resting the tip of his nose against her earlobe for a split second before returning his attention to the approaching wave. "After this one, we take a break," he announced, just before her ears filled with the sound of water and they pushed off of the ocean floor together, sailing toward the crest of the wave.

 _Definitely a dream,_ she thought, trying to enjoy that one last wave to the fullest. It was behind them – literally – far too soon, of course, and Kurt dropped his arms from around her and pulled her by the hand out of the water. _Fine_ , she thought, finding that she was more tired that she'd expected to be after so much swimming against the current. They made it to the beach and wove in between the kids running, splashing and building sandcastles along the shore, as well as the wide variety of adults along the increasingly crowded beach. It wasn't a surprise that so many people were out. It was the beginning of a summer weekend, it was now late morning, and the weather was perfect.

They walked slowly, not in a rush. Jane was once again trying not to feel self-conscious about her tattoos, and yet not really able to completely avoid it. It had been such a relief to be up to her neck, or even just her mid-section, in water, that coming back out of that water almost made her feel more exposed than she had before she'd gone in. Some of the looks she got from people around them were hostile, others curious, while some people just stood and stared, mouths open. Kurt, as usual, was very aware of what was going on, especially when he felt her hand stiffen in his and saw her jaw clenching, even as she plastered a smile on her face. _Nothing can ever be easy for her_ , he lamented in annoyance.

They'd ended up farther down the beach than even he'd expected, and he was looking for familiar landmarks among the hotels on the boardwalk when he saw a giant statue along the edge of it, not far ahead. It not only told him where they were, but reminded him that this was a landmark that he'd been meaning to show her. He remembered reading about that statue at some point…

"Hey, take a look over there," he said, tugging gently on her hand and pointing his free one towards the huge structure that towered over the boardwalk. The people surrounding it looked like tiny models of people beside it.

"What _is_ it?" she asked, completely in awe.

"It's a statue of King Neptune, ancient Roman God of the Sea," he told her.

"God of the Sea?" She tried not to sound as frustrated as she felt just then. Somehow she was sure that it if her memory hadn't been wiped, she would know _something_ about this. Sometimes she wondered what _else_ she didn't know, things that small children probably learned in school, and the thought made her cringe. There was nothing she could do about it, however, so she tried to push the thought from her mind.

"Yeah," Kurt replied, "the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans believed in Gods and Goddesses of, well, just about everything. The Romans called the God of the Sea Neptune. The Greeks called him Poseidon." Her hand had already been slightly stiff in his, and at his explanation, he felt the tension increase. Not everyone in the world knew about ancient Greek and Roman gods and goddesses, of course, and he wished that she wasn't so hard on herself about the fact that she needed him to explain them to her. Then again, of course, that was easy for him to say. She needed _so many_ things explained to her, even now, more than a year after she'd been with the FBI, and he couldn't begin to imagine how frustrating that was.

"Let's go grab our towels, and go check it out," he suggested, noting that she nodded, but didn't say anything. They had to walk the equivalent of several more blocks before they found their things, carefully picking up two of the towels that were spread out there, so that they didn't disturb the rest of their belongings. Kurt also grabbed his phone, just in case, and as almost an afterthought, grabbed both of their sandals. Then they began backtracking toward the statue, cutting back up the beach toward the boardwalk.

They walked the rest of the way to the statue in silence, as he traced his thumb back and forth against hers, hoping it would help her relax even a little. This part of the sand, just before they reached the stairs, was the more frustrating part, where it was so dry that it shifted under their feet as they walked, slowing their progress to the equivalent of a crawl.

Jane had already been frustrated, and had to make a conscious effort to keep from letting the shifting sand irritate her. _No_ , she thought, _I refuse to let any of these trivial things spoil what has been, in half a day, a perfect weekend already._ Mercifully, they reached the four stairs that led them off the sand and onto the concrete boardwalk, where Jane could once again focus on the annoyance of being stared at for her tattoos. She had given up on trying to walk through the sand while keeping her towel wrapped around her, since it just kept falling off, instead draping it over her shoulders loosely so that it hung down over both shoulders. She had resigned herself to the fact that it didn't matter how she positioned it anyway, there wasn't nearly enough of it to cover her tattoos and stop people from staring at her.

When they reached the top of the four steps that separated the beach and the boardwalk, Kurt put their sandals down on the pavement in front of them so they could slip them on. She was very glad he'd thought to bring them, because the cement of the boardwalk was only a few degrees cooler than the surface of the sun, or so she decided. _Just more proof that Kurt thinks of everything_ , she thought.

She took a deep breath and walked toward the statue, willing herself to ignore the crowd of people around her. Now that they had made the transition from the beach to the boardwalk, she felt even more exposed in only her bikini than she had on the beach. Of course, there were plenty of people walking on the boardwalk in only their bathing suits, but there weren't _as many_ as there were on the sand, which was a few steps away. And none of _them_ were covered neck to foot in tattoos.

 _It doesn't matter_ , she told herself, focusing on the giant statue in front of them and willing herself to actually believe it.

They approached King Neptune slowly. It seemed that the base of the statue was a popular place for people to stand and have their pictures taken, and it was a few minutes before they were able to walk up to the figure without jumping into someone's vacation photo.

When they did, Jane ran her fingers over the metal octopus that was built into the bottom left corner of the rocks at the base of the statue. Those rocks made up the throne on which the sea god sat. Looking up above her head, she saw large metal fish, also attached to the rocks so that they appeared to be swimming by. Above that and slightly to the right, King Neptune rested one larger than life hand on the back of a giant turtle, as he sat up tall and surveyed those who approached his ocean from the road. It truly was impossible to get a good view of the structure from right in front of it, it was so massive.

Kurt watched her take in the details of the statue from a few feet away, and his smile widened as she then turned around to beckon him to join her. "It's impressive, isn't it?" he asked, walking up beside her and looking up for a minute. He turned to scan the people nearby, then stepped away from her to ask a nearby woman to take their picture in front of the statue. The woman agreed and he handed her his phone, then she quickly stepped back obligingly to do so. Kurt tugged on Jane's shoulder to get her to turn around, then quickly hung both of their towels on the railing beside them and slipped his arm around her, smiling for the picture.

She turned in surprise, looking at him questioningly. "Are you sure you want evidence?" she asked, glancing down quickly at his hand on her waist. He was technically her boss, after all.

He responded by pulling her closer and whispering, "Smile for the picture, Jane." She did, and the woman then walked toward them to return Kurt's phone to him.

"I took a few," the woman told him. "You guys are really cute together."

"Thank you," Kurt told her sincerely, turning to Jane and reaching around her for their towels. He could have stepped all the way around her to get them, but, well, any excuse to lean closer to her was something he would take advantage of if given the chance. He put his hand on her back and guided her a few feet away from the statue so that someone else could have a turn in front of it, leaning back against the railing that lined the short drop off from the cement to the sand.

"Let's see if these are any good," he said, leaning towards her so that she could see the pictures that had just been taken of them as well. Without giving it a second thought, she leaned closer to him, letting her head drop against his shoulder. He turned toward her, unable to keep from smiling, then looked back at his phone.

It turned out that the woman had done an excellent job of getting the entire statue in the picture, despite how tiny it made the two of them look in comparison. She had taken several shots, including a few candids that showed the conversation they'd had before turning to smile at the camera. His favorite was one where they had turned toward each other, when she'd asked him if he _wanted evidence_. When he zoomed in, he could see the two of them looking at each other intently, as they so often did. The others were good as well, but that one of the two of them was his favorite.

Once again feeling self-conscious, Jane attempted to wrap her towel around her waist – not that it did much good in the way of making her less conspicuous, of course – only to have it fall down again almost immediately. Kurt smiled as he watched the battle she was having with her towel, then stepped closer to her to help out.

"May I help you with that?" he asked, catching the edges of the towel just before it fell down for a fourth time in only a minute or so. He stood very close to her, his hands holding onto the towel, his thumbs on the inside of the towel, against both the material of her bikini bottom and the skin just above it, waiting for her response before he proceeded.

Looking up at him, she simply nodded in amusement. This line that they were dancing on was a lot of fun, she couldn't help but think. Holding her hands up in the air as a sign that she wouldn't interfere, she looked at him innocently. "Be my guest," she said. "Clearly I'm failing at this, but I'm sure that you're an expert."

"That's right," he replied seriously, but there was laughter in his eyes.

"I'll stay out of your way," she promised, draping her arms loosely over his shoulders and looking down to watch him wrap the towel far more tightly around her waist than she had.

He'd been surprised when she'd rested her arms on his shoulders, but you certainly wouldn't hear him complaining. As he wrapped the towel tightly around her waist, he paused to look back up at her as she hesitated to meet his eyes. He watched her for several seconds before she glanced up at him shyly.

For a second she wondered if she should have just let her arms hang down, but when she finally looked at him, his smile told her otherwise, and he continued to pull the towel around her waist with one hand while holding it securely with the other. Finally, he tucked the loose end securely inside, and she wondered if it was her imagination, or if he was purposely moving in what felt like slow motion.

Her arms were still draped over his shoulders when he finished, and she glanced back down at the towel that he'd so expertly fastened for her, noting that his hands rested gently on either side of her waist. His thumbs rested against her skin, moving back and forth ever so slightly, the rest of his fingers on the towel. "Hopefully that will stay up for a while," he told her as they looked at each other again, both very much aware of not only his hands, but also her arms laying across his shoulders.

"Thanks," she smiled at him, not moving. She wondered fleetingly if she _should_ move, or just stand there, feeling very foolish, with her hands dangling behind his head. The problem was, the movement of his thumbs on her skin was making her feel slightly dizzy, and she wondered if he was doing it on purpose. She closed her eyes for a second, unable to help herself, and when she opened them again he was looking at her with a knowing smile.

"Should we go back and see what Sarah packed for lunch?" he asked her, not looking away.

"No," she replied without a second's hesitation. Actually, she would do almost anything to stay in that exact spot for the foreseeable future.

He couldn't stifle a burst of laugh at her immediate reaction, and decided to pretend he didn't know exactly the effect he was having on her. Feigning confusion, he asked, "Oh, aren't you hungry yet?"

She narrowed her eyes at him playfully, shaking her head. "I am, but I'm okay for now."

"Just okay?" he asked innocently.

"Shut up, Weller," she growled at him, wanting to punch him playfully, the way she usually did when he teased her like this, but not wanting to move.

"We could go get frozen yogurt, or ice cream…" he said thoughtfully, as if she might change her mind if he found the right incentive. She just stared at him, shaking her head slightly. "No?" he asked. "Hmmmm." Just then they heard the sound of his phone buzzing, signaling that he had a text.

 _Wait, where_ _ **is**_ _his phone, anyway?_ she wondered. She watched as he removed his right hand from her waist, using that hand to undo his towel, which he'd wrapped around his waist the same way he'd secured hers. Draping the towel over his right shoulder, and her left arm, instead, he reached into a pocket she hadn't even noticed at the bottom of the leg of his bathing suit, removing his phone.

He unlocked the screen, then looked at it for a second before telling her, "Apparently Sawyer wants us to come back and eat lunch so we can go play mini golf with them." He slipped his phone back into his pocket and replaced his hand on her waist, his thumb immediately resuming its slight movement. "So what do you think?"

"Isn't it too early for lunch?" she asked in agitation, about ninety-nine percent sure that he was torturing her on purpose now.

"It's almost noon," he said, once again smiling innocently at her. Leaning back all the way against the railing, he tugged her towards him until they were suddenly only inches apart, at most. His hands were no longer on her waist, his arms now encircling her instead. "Come on," he said softly to her, "it'll be fun."

She wasn't sure how much of his intentional teasing she could take, what she did know was that she didn't seem to be able to disagree. It sounded like fun – though maybe not _quite_ as much fun as what they were doing at that moment... And now that she thought about it a little more rationally – which was only possible because he'd stopped what he'd been doing a second ago– she _was_ hungry.

Sighing dramatically, she rolled her eyes at him. "Okay," she finally agreed, knowing that he was endlessly amused with her reactions to him. That part was now pretty obvious. She let her arms fall slowly from his shoulders, taking a few tentative steps beside him and noticing that the towel he'd wrapped around her was remaining tightly secured.

They made their way down the steps once more, and she silently cursed the dry sand again, trying not to frustrate herself too much as she struggled to walk in it. His hand found hers, tugging gently to slow her down, and she remembered what he'd told her about this part of the sand, that fighting to walk faster would only make her more frustrated. Slowing down to walk beside him, she immediately felt better – because the walk seemed easier, and also, simply because the closer to him she was, the better she felt in general. Just like she pretty much always had.

When they approached the spot on the sand where they'd left their things, Sawyer jumped up and ran the last few feet to meet them. "Jane! Uncle Kurt! Are you going to come with us to play mini golf?" To say that he was excited would be an understatement. "Of course we are, buddy," Kurt told him. Jane couldn't help but smile. When she glanced at Sarah, she swore from the look on her face that Sarah wanted to say something to her… or that she knew something she was having trouble keeping to herself. Jane smiled slightly uneasily at the other woman, fairly sure that the two of them were the subject of her gleeful smile.

Kurt had laid down his towel in the sand once again, and Jane knew that she should do the same… except that she hated to undo his work. She still couldn't believe that it had stayed fastened so tightly. Her hand rested on the spot where the corner was tucked securely underneath, but she couldn't bring herself to pull on it. However, as she watched him sit down, Sawyer immediately flopping down beside him, she realized that she could always ask Kurt for his help securing it again later. Yes, that would definitely be something she'd need help with…

Just like that, she laid her towel down and walked around to the cooler to help Sarah distribute the food she'd packed.

"There," Sarah told her, giving her first sandwiches, then bottles of water, "those are for you and Kurt."

"Thanks," Jane replied, walking around to her towel, at the far side of the rectangle that they'd made by laying the towels down next to each other. Kurt was engrossed in conversation with Sawyer, leaned forward slightly with his back to her, so she simply held one of the two water bottles, dripping with condensation, or possibly melted ice, above the center of his back. She only had to wait a few seconds before the droplets hit his skin, and he whipped around quickly to find the source.

"Need some attention?" Kurt asked her in amusement.

"Not at all," she replied innocently. "Just holding your water for you."

"Very nice of you," he grinned, taking the water from her and shaking his head. She handed him his sandwich at the same time, then sat back and listened as Sawyer jumped right back into his story, demanding his uncle's full attention. Jane stretched her legs out in front of her, looking out at the ocean as she ate her sandwich.

When she finished eating, she leaned back against her elbows, her mind wandering. The waves were still crashing loudly, as they'd been doing earlier when they were out in them, and she found that it was surprisingly easy to be mesmerized by them. Before she knew it, she saw Sawyer dash towards the water, Sarah trying her best to keep up with him.

Looking over at Kurt in surprise, she saw him grin back at her. "Sarah convinced him that the adults needed another half hour before mini golf, so they went back to play in the water."

"Your sister is a saint," Jane mused. Sawyer was adorable, but he was a little too energetic for her just then.

"I'm not sure I'd go that far, but she's been incredibly… _helpful_ this weekend," he agreed with a crooked grin, winking at her.

She smiled, glancing back at the ocean. He'd turned over his shoulder to talk to her, and when she'd looked away he'd taken the opportunity to lean back in her direction, so that suddenly she was surprised when she realized that he was using her as a pillow, his head leaned against her outstretched legs slightly about her knees.

"Comfortable?" she asked him, looking down and tilting her head slightly to her left, trying to match his angle.

"Yes, thanks," he smiled up at her. She transferred her weight to her left hand, moving it slightly to the right to brace herself better, and then, not quite sure what possessed her, she sat slightly forward just enough to lay her right hand hesitantly over his heart, feeling it beating from inside his chest. Suddenly feeling self-conscious, though not enough to actually take back the gesture, she kept her eyes on her hand, and watched as his right hand came up slowly and covered hers. Smiling shyly, she took a chance and glanced at his face, finding him watching her intently – as usual. She felt like she should say something. She _wanted_ to say something… but no words would come out. As she often did, she bit her lip unconsciously, then felt him squeeze her hand.

She realized only then that the 'hand over the other's heart' was a flashback to the first weeks after they met, to the two separate "you're my starting point" declarations. It hadn't been something she'd done consciously, and she wondered if it had occurred to him, as well. The way things seemed to work between them, it probably had. He had a tendency to know what she was thinking, or to think it himself even before she even got a chance.

As her thoughts cleared slowly, she noticed that his hand was moving slowly back and forth over hers. Neither of them had spoken for quite a while, when suddenly he smiled mischievously. "What?" she asked him, knowing he was thinking of something specific.

"I was just thinking," he replied, "that we're going to need more sunblock before we play mini golf." She could feel herself blushing almost immediately, to her annoyance. She picked up her water bottle, but then realized that she couldn't open it with only her free hand, and set it back down, flustered. He watched her in amusement, holding out his left hand to her. "Let me hold it for you," he said. She handed him the bottle, which he held still while she twisted off the top, dropping the small, round piece of plastic back on the towel beside them and then taking the bottle from him in her left hand.

"Thanks," she said, taking a drink, then holding it out to him. "Do you want some?"

"Sure," he replied, taking the bottle carefully in his left hand, and lifting his head slightly off of her leg so that he could drink without spilling. She immediately felt a chill on her skin where his head had been, and though it had been the polite thing to do, she regretted offering him the water, since it had led him to sit up. A minute later, however, he leaned back gently against her leg, holding the bottle up. "We should probably put the top back on now."

"Yep, hang on," she replied, reaching across herself to pick up the top, which sat on the towel to her right, with her left hand. She then attempted to screw it back on with what was her non-dominant hand, which was something of a comedy routine. It definitely wasn't as easy as getting the top _off_ had been. After a few failed attempts, she eventually succeeded in putting the cap back on the bottle, and then tossed the bottle across the towel. "That seemed like it was harder than it should have been," she observed with a chuckle.

"Hey, I knew we could do it," he said.

"I _could_ have just used both my hands," she observed.

He squeezed her hand, pressing it against his chest, and she smiled reflexively, without even realizing it. "But I like this one where it is," he protested. "Besides, not having two hands to open the water bottle made such a handy distraction, didn't it? When you were trying to avoid looking at me when I mentioned that we needed more sunblock…" He looked her directly in the eye as he spoke, and for a second she was so stunned, she couldn't even think of how to react. This just made it even funnier to him, and he couldn't hold in his laughter. Still holding her hand in his, he lifted his head off of her leg and turned, sitting up, so that he was sitting beside her, transferring her hand to his left.

Once he was settled, he looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, and saw her fighting a smile, making a face that looked like she was trying to look annoyed – but failing. He grinned at her, the same grin that she could never resist, and she leaned her head on his shoulder. "Shut up," she said.

"I didn't say a thing," he replied innocently.

"Shut up," she repeated, laughing to herself. She felt him shift as he reached across the towel behind them, and a second later he held up a bottle of sunblock.

"Would you rather do this _before_ Sarah and Sawyer come back, or _after_?" he asked, again in his best teasing voice. Of course, it wasn't as though they were going to do anything scandelous. They were on a crowded public beach, for goodness sake… and yet still, she rolled her eyes at him, conceding the point. It _was_ better to do it while it was just the two of them. There would always be the audience of strangers watching Jane, but at least they could _pretend_ that they weren't there.

"Backs first, just to be sure?" he suggested. She narrowed her eyes playfully at him, sure that this was somehow a trick of some kind, but, unable to find one, just shook her head at him, smiling suspiciously. He put his best innocent look on his face and shook the bottle of sunblock. Leaning down towards her ear, he whispered, "Come on, you know you like it," and then watched her eyes widen in surprise as she turned a deep crimson all over again. _This is really too much fun_ , he thought, almost feeling guilty for teasing her. Almost, but not quite. And certainly not enough to stop.

She turned over onto her stomach, crossing her arms in front of her and laying her head straight down in between them, so there was no chance of her looking at him, no matter which side of her he leaned towards. This time, instead of spraying her back, he used the non-spray sunblock, squeezing it onto one hand and rubbing his hands together before starting with her shoulders. She'd been bracing for a blast of cold, so she was surprised when it didn't come. On the contrary, his hands rubbing her shoulders were _far_ preferable to what she'd been expecting. Forgetting how flustered she'd been a minute before, she picked up her head and looked over her left shoulder at him.

"That's not the same one," she said in surprise. He squeezed her shoulders, continuing his work and smiling.

"Nope, it's the one you put on your face before," he said. "You can use it anywhere, most people just use the spray these days, because it spreads it out faster. This one takes longer, but I thought you might like it better." She smiled at his thoughtfulness, putting her head down against her right cheek, so that she was looking at him over her left shoulder.

 _No icy blast_ _ **and**_ _it takes longer?_ she thought to herself. _I'm definitely okay with this._ She closed her eyes and enjoyed what was basically an excuse for a back rub, from her shoulders to her lower back. Despite the fact that it took a little longer than it had with the spray sunblock, she found that it was over _much_ too soon. With the knowledge that Sarah and Sawyer were due back soon, she noticed that his fingers lingered idly over her tattoos for only a minute once he'd finished the actual sunblock application, and she found that she was disappointed. _Plenty of time for that later,_ she reminded herself.

She had stopped feeling his hands on her back and was just thinking of opening her eyes to see where he'd gone when she heard a noise beside her. Squinting against the sun, she opened her eyes just enough to see him lying beside her, mirroring her position, his head resting on his folded arms and his face turned toward her.

She smiled at him drowsily, knowing from the dopey grin that she could feel on her face that he was going to comment on how relaxed she looked – and she didn't care. After all, it was true. He gave her that smile again – the one that lit up his face every time – and that teasing look was suddenly in his eyes again. "I told you you liked it."

After considering denying it for half a second, she shrugged and replied simply, "I never said I didn't," before sitting up slowly and laying her left hand softly in the middle of his back – she wasn't even sure why she did it, since there was as of yet no sunblock there to rub in. "Which one?" she asked, "Spray or… the other one?"

"The spray is fine," he told her. "We don't have as much of the other one, I'd rather make sure there's enough for you." She smiled at him and shook her head, amazed by his seemingly never ending thoughtfulness as she reached for the bottle of spray sunblock and shook it. Moving the hand that was already on his back a little lower, out of the way of the spray, she began at his shoulders and worked her way down to his lower back, trying hard not to miss any spots.

She had basically finished and was really just moving her hands back and forth across his lower back when Sarah and Sawyer returned from the ocean, droplets of water raining off of them as they plopped down on the other side of Kurt. Jane's hands came to a stop, but didn't leave his back, as she somehow felt like she'd been caught red-handed doing something that she wasn't quite supposed to. Kurt turned his head in their direction and opened his eyes, smiling at them. "How was it, guys?" he asked, directing the question mostly at Sawyer. His nephew was bouncing excitedly on the towel, not realizing that water was still flying off of him in every direction.

"It was awesome! The waves are so great today!" he replied happily.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "He could probably do that all day and not get tired," she said, looking back at Jane and Kurt. "His mom, on the other hand…"

"And miss mini golf? No way!" Sawyer interjected.

"Well, _we_ were just reapplying sunblock in preparation for mini golf," Kurt told him. At the mention of sunblock, however, a pouting look crossed Sawyer's face.

"We don't have to do that _again,_ do we mom? Not yet…" Instantly, it was as though he was five again. Sarah smiled knowingly at her brother.

"Absolutely do," she told her son. "Jane and your uncle Kurt are doing absolutely the right thing. Sunburn, especially on your light skin, is a big deal. So dry off, because there's no mini golf until you're covered in sunblock again." Sawyer's groans of protest did him no good, and he eventually surrendered to his fate. While Sarah focused on her son, Kurt sat up, picked up the bottle of non-spray lotion and dabbed a small amount onto his fingers, holding it up as a signal for Jane to lean closer and hold still, so that he could put it on her face.

"No faith in me, still, huh?" she asked quietly in a teasing voice, so that only he could hear her.

"Are you complaining?" he asked in the same tone, raising his eyebrows in pretend surprise. He used his thumb to smooth sunblock across her cheek and noticed that she didn't answer right away, and instead, she closed her eyes. He continued his work with a satisfied grin.

"Sorry, what were we talking about?" she asked a minute later, opening her eyes again and pretending to have no idea. Not that she would have been able to follow a conversation if they _had_ actually been having one, as distracting as it was to have him doing what he was doing. He was right, she was definitely not complaining.

Aware that Sarah and Sawyer wouldn't be occupied forever, Kurt finished rubbing sunblock into Jane's face faster than he would have preferred, before smearing some on his own face, leaving it to her to finish rubbing it in. She tried to be thorough but quick, wishing she didn't feel so rushed this time. After that, they finished applying sunblock to the areas of skin that they were able to reach themselves, by which time Sarah and Sawyer were dried off and finished applying as well. Sarah tied her towel around herself, her bathing suit still damp, and Sawyer just carried his towel and the bag of sand toys.

Jane slipped her shorts and t-shirt back on, and Kurt slipped his t-shirt back over his head, since they were now mostly dry. She opened her mouth to voice the realization that they hadn't actually needed more sunblock on their backs since they'd both just put their clothes back on, but then she saw Kurt grinning at her mischievously once again, and she closed her mouth, suddenly aware that he'd probably known _exactly_ what he was doing. Shaking her head at him, she couldn't help but smile, remembering him telling her, "You know you like it." This only made her blush slightly all over again.

As if he could read her mind – and he probably could, she admitted to herself – he took her hand with the one that wasn't carrying the cooler as they walked behind Sarah and Sawyer through the sand towards the boardwalk. He knew that the weekend wasn't going to last forever, but just then, he pretended that it would.


	6. Sweet Frog, Mini Golf and Ice Cubes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: Less than a week to go until the angst that is Blindspot comes back for season two, but right here, it's summer 2017 and all that is behind them… this story is definitely my happy place. Enjoy!_

The four of them walked a few blocks down the boardwalk, enjoying the view of the ocean, then crossed between the hotels at 25th street towards Atlantic Avenue, which ran parallel to the beach for several miles. They crossed to the far side of the street, and turned left, making their way down the sidewalk on Atlantic toward one of two several mini golf establishments at Oceanfront. The walkway was crowded with tourists, both those walking with a destination in mind, as well as those who were clearly just perusing the selection of souvenir shops, restaurants and various other establishments that catered to the summer crowd of visitors. Because of this, Jane and Kurt continued to walk behind Sarah and Sawyer, and since it was easiest to maneuver if they stayed close together, he put his arm around her shoulders – which was absolutely fine with her, of course.

"Hey, Uncle Kurt," Sawyer called, turning around to look at him, "look at that crazy sign! It's not even in English!" Up on one of the sign posts, visible from the sidewalk, was a circular sign without any letters at all, only symbols. The first one looked like a spiral, the second a lightning bolt, the third a hashtag mark (formerly known as a pound sign), followed by two exclamation marks. The whole thing had a thick red circle around the outside and a diagonal red line through the middle. Jane looked at the sign in confusion, now also wondering what the sign meant.

Kurt chuckled, glancing at the confusion on Jane's face, then looked back at Sawyer. "That's the City of Virginia Beach's nice way of reminding people to watch their language, and not to curse," he explained. "Which is a good idea, since there certainly are a lot of kids around here."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense," Sawyer replied, turning back around happily.

"Is that really what it means?" Jane asked from beside him.

"I assume so," Kurt replied. "Usually when people want to signify a curse word without actually typing one, they use some combination of symbols like that, so…" he shrugged, smiling, not at anything in particular… except Jane, and the fact that they were walking down the sidewalk side by side, his arm around her. It seemed like every few hours since they'd arrived, it had hit him: the two of them were on vacation together – no leads to follow up on, no suspects to chase, no bombs to diffuse, no other team members to check in with... just the two of them, having fun. That was more than enough reason to smile, after all.

They'd walked less than a block after that when Sawyer spotted a familiar pale green and pink logo on the umbrella above a small table out in front of an equally small storefront, and began bouncing with excitement beside Sarah – to the amusement of the two behind him. "Mom, look! They have Sweet Frog here! Can we go? Please? _Please?_ " The begging intensified quickly, and Jane listened in confusion, trying to figure out what exactly Sawyer was so excited about. They had stopped just past the corner of Atlantic and 24th streets, in front of the shop in question, while Sarah considered her son's request.

"You guys interested in frozen yogurt?" she asked Jane and Kurt.

"Sure," Kurt replied. Because why wouldyou say no to something like that when you were on vacation? At least in his mind, you wouldn't. He looked at Jane, who smiled a little bit uncomfortably. He was almost sure that she hadn't tried it before, but he was also almost sure that she would like it. He knew that she got uncomfortable when asked to choose from a large number of flavors, because even now, she would run across ones that she had no memory of trying, which made choosing hard.

To his surprise, however, she smiled, albeit slightly nervously, but said, "Sure."

"Why don't you guys go in and get started, and Jane and I can go back to the house and drop off the cooler," which he held up in his right hand, "and our towels, so we don't have to keep carrying them around, since the house is only a few blocks from here… and we'll meet you back here?"

"Sure, if you guys don't mind," Sarah replied, handing him the key to the house. She took her shorts and t-shirt out of the towel bag and, having decided that she was now dry enough, slipped her clothes back on over her bathing suit and stuffed her towel into the bag, handing it over to Jane. They put the rest of the towels inside it as well, and Jane also took the bag of sand toys from Sawyer. The two of them set off for the beach house, telling Sarah that they'd see them shortly.

"Do you want me to take one of those?" Kurt asked her as Jane adjusted the two bags on her arm.

"I'm fine," she said, shaking her head at him. "Besides, it's only a few blocks, and you're already carrying the cooler, which is heavier. Besides I like your _other_ hand right where it is." The arm to which she was referring – his left arm, to be specific – was back around her shoulders. Her right arm, in turn, reached across his back. He smiled at her matter-of-factness, thinking that it was very… _her._

Just then, something screeched across the sky overhead, the noise almost deafening. Jane stopped in her tracks, looking up in search of the source of the noise. _What in the world was_ _ **that**_ _?_ she wondered. Finally, just before they disappeared behind a cloud, she saw two small airplanes that looked _far_ too far away to have just made as much noise as they had. It had sounded like they'd been about to land on the street in front of them, they'd been so loud.

"Military jets," Kurt explained when the noise finally stopped, and she could hear again. "There are four military bases in this area, so there are a lot jets flying around here." Jane just continued to stare after the two jets that they'd seen.

"They're _so_ loud," Jane said, still surprised, even now that they couldn't see or hear them anymore. She started walking forward again, and he followed her lead.

"That's for sure," Kurt agreed. "I'm sure those aren't the first ones that have flown over us this morning, because they do training exercises pretty frequently. Maybe they're just the first ones we've heard."

"How in the world would we have _missed_ something that loud?" she asked, finding the idea hard to believe.

"Well, we could have been in the water, which is also pretty loud… or, we could just have been… _distracted_ …" he said, trailing off and raising his eyebrows at her with a grin. As expected, her cheeks turned slightly pink and she looked away, in the direction they were walking. "You _are_ pretty distracting…" he added.

" _I'm_ distracting?" she asked in disbelief.

"Well, at least you can admit it…" he told her with a grin, knowing that he'd get a reaction. Her eyes narrowed at him, but sparkled with laughter at the same time. She removed her right hand from his waist and punched him gently in the lower back, then slid her hand back into place. He really was _terrible._

They'd come to the intersection of Pacific Avenue, which ran parallel to Atlantic, and 24th street. Crossing Pacific had to be done carefully, since it was two lanes on each side and, despite having many crosswalks, the majority of cars didn't seem to stop for pedestrians quite as willingly as they were supposed to.

Once they'd made it to the other side of Pacific, they turned right to backtrack two streets, to the narrow street where their beach house sat. Jane had only just noticed the name of the street, since they'd gotten in so late the night before. "Twenty-fifth _and a Half_ Street?" she read out loud. "How can you have a half street?" Kurt chuckled beside her as they approached the corner, "their" beach house coming into view as they rounded the bend.

"Well, there's a grid of streets around here, all numbered, and I guess they already had the numbered streets laid out… So maybe they added one in, in between…? It _is_ pretty narrow… They could have called it something else, but maybe they wanted to keep it simple? So it would be obvious where it was…? Or maybe someone just wasn't feeling very creative that day…" He trailed off, grinning down at her. The truth was, he thought it was pretty silly too, but he'd seen it done before, in other places. He was just enjoying her reaction, and couldn't help but pull her a little bit closer to him as they walked up to the front of the house.

When they reached the door, he let go of her reluctantly, setting the cooler down and digging the key out of his pocket. She followed him inside the house, where they set down the cooler and the bags. Kurt had disappeared down the hall, and Jane took advantage of the chance to use a bathroom that hadn't been used by hundreds of strangers that day, emerging to find him waiting for her, leaning against the back of the couch. Without even thinking about it, she walked toward him, as if some force was just propelling her forward. She wondered if the smile on her face was as big as the one on his face.

She stopped in front of him, suddenly noticing how close she had gotten to him without actually realizing it. Not that she thought that he minded, and not that _she_ minded, she just… This was still a very new thing for her – not fighting the urge to get closer to him, not forcing herself to stay on opposite sides of the invisible line, the one they generally weren't supposed to cross but had been dancing back and forth over since they'd arrived. Not having to wonder if she should... She couldn't completely shake the feeling of hesitation. Suddenly wondering what to _do_ now that she was so close to him, she hesitated.

"Are you having a good weekend?" he asked her then, sensing her hesitation. "Glad you came along?"

 _Is he seriously asking me that?_ she wondered. _In what universe do I seem like I'm having anything less that the kind of fun that words can't even describe?_ She bit her lip, trying to hold back the smile on her face, but it was nearly impossible. "I don't think a word exists for how amazing this weekend has been so far," she replied sincerely, ready for him to make fun of her. "At least, not one that I remember."

He chuckled at the fact that she was making fun of herself, standing up from where he'd been leaning against the couch and taking a half step forward, which was all it took to close the distance between them. As there so often was, there was an intensity in his eyes when he looked at her, something she couldn't quite put into words. It was a big part of why it was so easy to get a little dizzy when she looked at him.

"Good," he said, hesitating, as if there was something specific that he wanted to say but couldn't quite bring himself to say it, and then said simply, "I'm glad you're here, Jane." She stood still, frozen in place, and had to remind herself, not for the first time that weekend so far, to breathe. He was staring into her eyes, and if she didn't know better she'd swear she saw a hint of uncertainty there.

 _Really?_ she thought in surprise. _After everything that has already happened between us in the past twenty-four hours?_ His hesitation was endearing, just like everything else about him. The smile on her face suddenly intensified, and she was surprised when he took both of her hands in his, bringing her left hand up to his lips with his right and kissing the back of her hand. There was something hopelessly sweet about the gesture, and she leaned forward against him, her forehead against his shoulder, feeling him plant a kiss in her hair, pulling both of his arms around her. There was really no need to go anywhere the rest of the day. She could stay right there with him and be completely content, even if she didn't move an inch.

But of course, one of them had to think more practically. "Time for some frozen yogurt," he said in a low voice, into her hair. She shook her head against him, no intention of moving from the spot where she stood, and yet again, his laughter rumbled in his chest. "Come on," he continued, "we're going to find your favorite flavor." He felt her sigh against him, and he rubbed one hand against her back. He knew how she hated to be in this kind of situation, where she had to choose from a large number of choices that she might or might not recognize, based solely on something as subjective as a preference that she might or might not remember – even after all this time. "Trust me," he told her, "I have a plan. Besides, Sawyer and Sarah and waiting for us, and you don't want to keep that kid from mini golf, _trust me_." He felt her chuckle against him, and he knew he'd won.

She picked up her head off of his shoulder, looking up at him shyly, and he leaned down until the tip of his nose touched hers. She thought that he was going to kiss her, but he simply pressed his nose, and then his forehead as well, against hers. "Come on," he whispered. She made a face at him, scrunching up her nose in displeasure, and he leaned back just far enough to kiss the top of her nose before standing back up, tugging her by the hand toward the door. Sighing in pretend resignation, she let herself be pulled towards the door.

Back outside, they actually did make an effort to walk quickly back up to Sweet Frog, and Jane tried her best not to dread their arrival as they went. It was stupid, she knew, to be bothered by something like this after she'd probably long since tried all – or at least most – of the flavors… but for some reason, any time she was given a selection to choose from – in this case, flavors of frozen yogurt, but it could be anything – it gave her flashbacks to the very beginning of her memory, back to when she would be paralyzed by simple choices like that, simply because there were _so many_ of them, and she had no way to know what she liked or disliked.

That had been where Kurt had come in, and slowly over time he'd helped her sample many of the different things that most people were commonly asked their preferences on: ice cream, various forms of chocolate and other desserts (which he'd insisted was _very_ important), other foods, wine, coffee, movies… not that they had a lot of downtime in their jobs, but they made the most of what little they did have.

These days, though she was still wary of this kind of situation, she could usually make a decision when pressed, or sometimes she'd just leave it up to Kurt. By now, he knew most of her likes and dislikes just about as well as she did, and at least enough to make an educated guess about what she would probably like. There were still plenty of varieties of different things that she had no idea about, but at least the indecision didn't paralyze her any longer. In this case, she was genuinely curious about what he meant when he said he had a plan.

Back at Sweet Frog, they found Sarah and Sawyer at the one table on the sidewalk outside, still eating. Sawyer looked blissfully happy, and he grinned at them as they approached. "Are you guys getting frozen yogurt, too? It's _so_ good!"

"Yep, we are. We'll be right back," Kurt told him, holding the door open for Jane. He retrieved two Styrofoam bowls from the counter in the corner, as she walked slowly along the line of levers sticking out of the wall, each labeled with a flavor above it. There were some she knew she'd tasted before and some she hadn't.

Walking back over to her, he said quietly, "Don't worry, no choosing yet." With that, he started at the end closest to her and proceeded to pull the lever quickly, dispensing only a tiny amount of frozen yogurt into what she realized was a very specific part of the bowl. Then, turning it carefully around, he retrieved a Sharpie from his pocket, consulted the card with the name of the flavor on the wall, and wrote on the outside of the bowl. As he moved on to the next flavor, repeating the process exactly, she now saw what he was doing.

This was far from the first time he'd displayed such thoughtfulness, but every single time he did something like this she felt the same lightheadedness, the same disbelief that _she_ could be the object of such a gesture. Even to this day, after everything that had happened between them, she was still surprised.

He went on to dispense tiny samples of all fourteen flavors: chocolate and vanilla, of course, but also cookies and cream, island banana, New York Cheesecake, strawberry, toasted marshmallow, cake batter, dulce de leche, coconut, fudge brownie batter, mango, watermelon and strawberry lemonade. He took the two bowls of tiny samples to the counter, looking at the confused young woman behind the register, who weighed them and then took his money, looking at him strangely. "We're not sure which one we like best, so we need to try them first," he told her. She just nodded at him, a forced smile on her face. Clearly, she thought this was the strangest thing she'd seen all day – not that he cared whatsoever.

The transaction completed, he walked back over to where Jane was standing at the far end of the room. "Okay, so now for the taste test," he told her, handing her a spoon. "Of course, the ones that are right next to each other can also be swirled together, but let's not worry about that. We needed them separate so you could tell the flavors apart." He handed her one of the two bowls, pointing out where he'd written the names of the flavors. She knew it was silly, but she felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude to him. He constantly did things like this for her, acting as if it was nothing. On the contrary, it was _everything_.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "This is…"

Because he could always tell, he knew she was overwhelmed, so he just smiled and diffused the seriousness by finishing her sentence a different way. "This is _melting_." His eyes sparkled playfully, and she couldn't help but smile. "Which one do you want to start with, boss?" Since he was, of course, actually _her_ boss, she found that comment amusing, but focused on the frozen yogurt in front of them, settling for starting with the familiar ones, chocolate and vanilla, and then working her way around. They each had a few bites of each one, and before they knew it, their samples were gone.

"So," he asked, "what's the verdict?"

"It's a hard choice," she replied seriously. "They're _all_ good. But I think… strawberry lemonade."

"You can have more than one at the same time, you know," he reminded her. "You just pile them in the bowl together."

"Hmmm," she mused. "Maybe you shouldn't have told me that…" He walked to the corner and picked up two more bowls, handing her one.

"Here," he said, "Go crazy." While Jane considered her strategy, Kurt started from one corner and worked his way down, combining chocolate, New York Cheesecake, cookies and cream, toasted marshmallow, cake batter and fudge brownie batter. When he'd finished, he glanced up and saw Jane in deep concentrating, her bowl already containing a swirl of various colors.

"How's it going?" he asked.

She grinned at him, showing him the contents of her bowl so far. "Well, I have island banana, strawberry, coconut, mango, watermelon and now I just need strawberry lemonade."

"Perfect," he replied, "then you can sample some of mine and get almost all of the others."

She looked at him suspiciously as she walked toward the strawberry lemonade. "Does that mean you want to sample _mine_ , too?"

"Only if you're willing to share," he said, matching her pretend serious tone. It was yet another thing she loved about him – that they could go from seriously joking to jokingly serious and back in seconds, and always seemed to understand what the other meant by it.

Once she'd finished dispensing her final flavor, she walked up to him, standing close, their bowls between them. Pretending to think about it, she said, "Maybe. If you're nice."

"When am I not nice?" he asked, now pretending that his feelings were hurt. Of course, it wasn't as though he'd always been nice to her. They'd done _plenty_ of things to each other that were a million miles away from nice, to put it mildly, in the past – serious things that neither of them would bring up over something silly like frozen yogurt.

"Well," she said slowly, "you're usually nice. So I'll probably share with you." She smiled then, as he shook his head at her, chuckling softly.

"Do you want any toppings?" he asked, glancing over at a counter that held bins of a dizzying array of small bits of things that could be added on top of their frozen yogurt. She stood over them, looking down and reading the labels as he walked up behind her.

" _I've_ only tried maybe half of those things before," he reassured her quietly, leaning over her shoulder. She smiled, turning around to walk toward the counter.

"I think that's enough choosing for now," she told him.

They walked back to the young woman at the cash register, who was just shaking her head at them. Kurt paid for their treat, and they walked outside to see Sarah and Sawyer waiting. Upon seeing them, Sawyer jumped up excitedly, having spent the past five minutes asking Sarah how much longer he had to wait – approximately every thirty seconds.

"Ready?" Sawyer demanded.

"Sawyer, calm down," Sarah told him, though she couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"We're ready," Jane assured him. "We can walk and eat." She glanced at Kurt questioningly. "At least, I think we can…"

He made a face at her, taking another bite from his bowl. "Of course we can." As they headed down the sidewalk toward 22nd Street, Sarah and Sawyer once again in the lead, he leaned down closer to her and said quietly, "However, what we _can't_ do is walk and eat and hold hands."

This was a major downside as far as she was concerned, and Jane found herself eating a little faster because of it, wanting to be finished and get rid of the bowl. Kurt watched her in amusement, like he had done most of the day, simply finding it one more endearing thing about her.

At one point as they walked, when he was in between bites, he leaned down towards her again, putting his left arm around her and resting his hand, still holding his spoon, on her shoulder as he said quietly near her ear, "If you eat too fast, you're going to give yourself brain freeze." And just like that, his hand left her shoulder and he was using it to spoon another bite into his mouth.

Being the stubborn person that she was, Jane refused to slow down, and approximately two bites later, she experienced exactly what Kurt had warned her about – brain freeze. She stopped in her tracks in the middle of the sidewalk, and Kurt had to tell Sarah and Sawyer to wait a second as he stood in front of her, trying not to laugh at her surprised reaction. Though he'd just warned her about it, she seemed genuinely shocked.

"Brain freeze?" he asked quietly. She just nodded, watching as he tried but didn't quite succeed at not laughing at her.

"I _did_ warn you…" he began. She was not amused, and just made a face that suggested that she was in pain, then leaned forward until her forehead was on his chest.

Sarah and Sawyer looked on from a few feet away, Sawyer looking very concerned. "Is she okay, Uncle Kurt?"

"Yep, she is," he replied. "You know how your mom and I tell you not to eat cold stuff too fast, so you don't get brain freeze?" Sawyer just nodded. "She doesn't like to listen when I tell her things like that." He'd stuck his spoon in the remaining frozen yogurt in his bowl so that his left hand could squeeze the back of her neck gently. He could feel her chuckle slightly at his explanation to Sawyer, knowing that he was right. She hadn't listened. To Jane, he said, "Are you okay?"

Lifting her head – though she would have happily continued to lean against him, given the chance – she nodded. "Better," she replied. "So that's brain freeze…"

He chuckled at her. "Yes, it is. So _slow down_ just a little, and you won't get it." She nodded slightly as they turned and started walking again. After a minute, he offered her a spoonful from his bowl, which she took, tasting the difference from her bowl to his, then dug her spoon into her bowl, giving him a similar sample.

By the time they reached the mini golf entrance, they were taking their last bites, throwing away their trash just in time to free their hands to play. After getting the four of them the appropriate sized clubs and choosing different colored golf balls, they moved on to the course. It was very standard mini golf, with large statues of animals beside the various holes, giving it a Jungle Golf theme. Jane watched as Sawyer putted first, followed by Sarah. The two of them set off for the next hole, at Sawyer's request, too impatient to wait for his uncle and Jane, who seemed to be _taking_ _forever_ , as he'd said. Kurt just chuckled. That kid was in a big hurry. Then again, his excitement was contagious, and despite the fact that the sun was very hot by this time of day, especially because they'd moved inland away from the water, they were all having fun.

Jane watched as Kurt stood to the side and hit the golf ball gently from one end of the green to the other, wondering what the strategy was. _To get the ball in the hole, obviously, but what was the best way to do that?_ she wondered. Though she'd just watched all three of them do it, when it was her turn to hit the ball, she wasn't sure how to stand or quite what to do. If she was being honest, she had been distracted. There were so many different moments between the two of them to choose from to focus on in the past eighteen hours alone, that when she stopped moving for a second and thought about them all, it was a little bit overwhelming – but in a good way.

He chuckled at her as she set her ball down and stood near it, then looked at him helplessly. Without a word, only a smile, he walked over to her and turned her shoulders to face the ball, then stood behind her and held her hands in the proper positions on the club, helping her practice her swing gently. "Like this," he said, leaning over her shoulder. She had to force herself to focus on what he was trying to teach her, and not just the fact that he was pressed against her back, holding his hands and arms over hers.

Though he didn't move away from her, he let her swing the club on her own then, the ball not ending up anywhere near the hole despite the small size of the green. "Now who's distracting?" she asked him with a smile. He winked at her, wondering how many holes she would try to insist that she didn't know what she was doing in order to get his "help."

After the second hole, just because he knew he'd get a reaction, he asked quietly, "Are you sure you're not just saying you don't know what to do to get me to stand closer to you? You could just ask, you know." Her jaw dropped slightly in surprise, and she stood, speechless for several seconds while he chuckled in amusement.

"Maybe I'm just really _bad_ at this," she replied defensively, crossing her arms in front of her. She had actually been trying, after all.

He looked like he was considering the idea, then replied, "Right… you speak thirteen languages, you know I don't even know how many different styles of martial arts, but mini golf? That's just too _hard_."

She scowled at him playfully, knowing that he was only teasing, but feeling her competitive streak kick in. _A few more holes of practice, and I'm going to be winning this thing_ , she thought.

By then they were following the path to where Sarah and Sawyer had already started hole three. "So does that mean you won't help me?" she asked quietly, standing directly in front of him as he lined up to hit the ball from its starting point, hands on her hips. He couldn't quite tell if she was seriously concerned about this or not…

Leaning over slightly, peering down the green to line up his shot, he turned back and raised his eyes to look into hers. "I would never say that," he replied, smiling the same sincere smile that always had such an effect on her, and she couldn't pretend to be mad any longer.

The answer to the question of 'how many holes she would try to insist that she didn't know what she was doing in order to get his _help_ ,' it turned out, was four, after which she did actually start hitting the ball relatively in the right direction, all on her own. She didn't quite accomplish her goal of beating him – not that there were scorecards – but then, he did have the advantage of not having had his memory wiped less than two years ago, and if she'd ever played before, she didn't remember it.

Despite the fact that there was shade to hide in as they went along the course, the sun was brutally hot. Even in the shade, they were all sweating, and the knowledge that her bathing suit was under her clothes almost made it worse for Jane, because she would have given anything to leave the course then and there and run back to the beach so she could plunge straight back into the water. This was a fun game and everything, but she was ready to be done.

"How many holes does this mini golf thing have, anyway?" Jane asked Kurt as they each took their final shot on the green they were currently on… whichever one it was. She'd lost count, and there were no numbers anywhere.

"A standard course for both golf and mini golf both is eighteen," Kurt replied, looking at her curiously. "Why?"

"Because I'm _melting_ ," Jane replied dramatically. "How much longer can this possibly take?"

Kurt chuckled at her. Yes, it was really fucking hot, he had to agree. They were all soaked with sweat, and he actually did share Jane's desire to just leave things as they were and go cool off… But they _had_ been playing for a while, so surely they had to be almost done…

"Hey, Sarah," he called, seeing her peek back around the corner where she'd just disappeared with Sawyer. "Any idea how close we are to being done?"

Sarah rolled her eyes at him, shaking her head. "I have no idea," she moaned, "but why does it feel like we've been playing for about four hours out here…?" She waved her hand back and forth in front of her face, as if she could create enough of a breeze to make a difference. Her face was rather pink, Jane noticed, and she wondered whether she was sunburned or just pink from the heat.

After Sarah had ducked back around the corner, Jane leaned towards Kurt to whisper, "Is my face as pink as Sarah's? I'm trying to figure out if she has sunburn or if she's that pink just from being outside in the heat." He was surprised that it was Jane bringing up the subject of sunblock, albeit indirectly, but he wasn't one to let the topic slip by without taking advantage of it. With his thumb and index finger, he tipped her chin up towards him, allegedly to get a better look. "Let's see," he said, turning her face slowly from one side to the other as if he _really_ wanted to look carefully, and not just to let his fingers linger on her skin. Of course, getting a long look at her was just an added bonus. She grinned at him, her stomach flip flopping a little. It had been a serious question, but she couldn't say she minded the attention.

"You are definitely less pink that Sarah," he said finally, "Someone's done a great job with your sunblock so far today." When she smiled, he felt the muscles in her face move under his fingers, and he forced himself, reluctantly, to let his fingers drop from her face. As his hand slowly withdrew, she reached up and grabbed it loosely before it fell any farther, smiling at him and holding it at waist level.

Just then, Sarah looked back around the corner once again, rolling her eyes at them. "Alright, I take it you guys are finished with that hole. Let's let the poor people waiting behind you continue playing, and keep in mind that _some of us_ would like to finish this game. You guys can stand and stare at each other after that, okay?"

Without taking their eyes off each other, they both burst out laughing, and they followed Sarah to the next hole, which she and Sawyer were about to finish, with their hands still joined. It turned out that a mere four sweaty, somewhat torturous holes later, the game was over, and they were able to emerge from the make believe jungle back onto the sidewalk, once again surrounded by beachgoers. The little hut by the entrance sold refreshments, so when Kurt asked if they wanted anything, Jane asked only for "something very cold to drink." Though they sold water in bottles, for the two of them he opted for large cups of lemonade, filled first to the top with ice, the lemonade only of secondary importance, and more normal ratios for Sarah and Sawyer.

The four of them found a shady spot on the sidewalk nearby and just stood, drinking as fast as they could, feeling as though they'd been in the desert for days, instead of playing mini golf for less than two hours. For a few moments, no one spoke because they were all drinking as fast as they could. Predictably, Sawyer was the first to recover, and spent the first few minutes raving about their game.

Unbeknownst to Jane, Kurt had taken an ice cube out of his cup, and, since it began melting quickly as soon as it touched his fingers, he wasted no time in placing it, along with his now chilled fingers, on the back of her neck. As expected, her eyes widened immediately and she gasped, open mouthed but almost silently in surprise at the unexpected cold sensation. Sarah and Sawyer were so involved in drinking their lemonade and story, respectively, they didn't even notice.

 _What is he trying to do to me_? Jane wondered. Of course, anything cold felt good in that heat, but at the same time, she felt her cheeks flush even hotter. _That was…_ She found that she couldn't finish the thought. The ice was melted and gone within seconds, leaving cool but rapidly warming droplets of water soaking into the neck of her t-shirt, his fingers still on her neck.

Jane just looked at Kurt, her eyes still slightly wider than usual, in place of any words – she wasn't quite sure what she wanted to say just then, but she was fairly sure she didn't want to say whatever it was in front of his sister and nephew. He smiled back at her, innocently and yet anything _but_ innocently at the same time, glad to see he'd had the desired effect on her. He moved his fingers off of his neck, holding his cup and sipped his drink again, just watching her. She, on the other hand, found that she had to look away.

 _Damn him,_ she thought. _He's enjoying this way too much._ Not that she wanted him to stop, of course.

While she was looking away, flustered, he removed another ice cube from his cup. This time he had a slightly more ambitious goal. She was purposely distracted, looking around at anything _but_ him just then, and he wondered if he really could get away with it a second time…

Her t-shirt was bunched slightly where it met her shorts on the side of her waist closest to him, and he took advantage of this fact, sliding the hand with the ice cube under the back of her shirt – which, he reasoned, was allowed because he'd been _much_ closer to her only a little while ago when she hadn't even been _wearing_ the shirt – and, bending his elbow to quickly bring his hand higher up her back, pressing the quickly disappearing ice cube against her skin, watching for her reaction with a grin.

This time, she bit her lip to stifle a gasp, her eyes even wider than they'd been the first time. He couldn't believe he'd just surprised her the same way twice. The ice cube was now melted, leaving only cool water running down the middle of her back, and he gently traced the skin under his fingers as he brought his hand back down to the line of her shorts, reluctantly removing it and wrapping it back around his cup as if he hadn't done a single thing out of the ordinary. It wasn't that he was doing anything indecent, but they _were_ on a crowded sidewalk in the company of an eleven year old…

She looked at him, feeling like she should say something… but what? She settled on trying to send her message wordlessly, as they were able to do surprisingly often, and just looked at him as if to say, _I'm not complaining about what you're doing, but don't try to one-up yourself on that one_. To her only partial surprise, he nodded, smiling the "only for Jane smile," the one that wasn't mischievous, wasn't pretending to be innocent when he was teasing her – though she liked those, too… No, this was the absolutely sincere smile that told her, as it always had, that he would do anything for her. She couldn't be sure, of course, but she _thought_ he'd gotten the message.

"Mom, can we go back to the beach?" Sawyer was now asking.

Sarah sighed heavily. "Sawyer, I think I just need to lie down for half an hour first, then we'll go, okay? And remember, you said you wanted to go to the carnival rides at the other end of the boardwalk? We'll do that too… but let me rest for a bit first."

"Hey Sawyer," Kurt said, "I've got an idea. Why don't we let your mom go back to the house and rest, and maybe, if we ask nicely, Jane will want to go back to the beach for a quick swim – a _quick_ one, just so we're not so hot and sweaty, and then we can come back and get your mom and we'll go down to the rides. Because I _know_ Jane's going to want to check them out."

"What kind of rides?" Jane asked curiously. She knew nothing about any rides at the other end of the boardwalk, though apparently everyone else did. He just winked at her, smiling mischievously, then looked back at Sawyer, who was obviously already excited about his uncle's plan.

"But Uncle Kurt, don't we need towels or something if we're going swimming?" Sawyer asked curiously, looking from his uncle to his mom.

"Well, buddy, usually we would bring our towels to the beach, but if I have to choose between going back to the beach and jumping in the water right now, since we're already practically there, or walking _all the way back to the house_ , and then all the way back to the beach… well, I say we go without the towels. After all, we'll dry on the way back, right?" Kurt asked, hoping to get the eleven year old to be adventurous. That would give Sarah some time to rest, and considering that she'd brought them there this weekend, watching Sawyer for her for a little while was the _least_ he could do. It would also give them another dip in the water… which, despite the icy lemonade, sounded _really_ good just then. He knew he'd been sweatier before, but it hadn't been recently.

Sarah's face was flooded with gratitude at the idea of a little time to herself, and she was the first to agree to the plan. "Sounds great to me, _Uncle Kurt_. What do you say, Sawyer? Sound good?" Sawyer nodded vigorously, turning to look at Jane pleadingly.

"Jane, will you come to the beach with us? _Please…?_ " Sawyer asked, turning on what he understood to be his best puppy dog eyes, which usually worked on his mom when he wanted something really badly. Jane could think of nothing – well, maybe just one or two things, but not _many_ things – that she wanted more than to jump in the water just then, but even if she hadn't, she had a feeling that she would have said yes to Sawyer, because he looked so cute. He really was a good kid.

"Absolutely," she replied. "I agree, this is the perfect time to jump in the water again." Sawyer, in response, was bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Okay, so we'll see you later, mom!" he called, ready to run toward the beach.

"Hey! Sawyer, come here," Sarah said, calling him back. Then, he reached her, she said sternly, "Stay with Jane and Uncle Kurt, okay? And do as you're told."

He nodded seriously. "Yes, mom, I will," he said. Then, turning to Jane and Kurt, he grinned and asked, "Are you ready? I'm ready!" Sarah shook her head at her son, rubbing her hand on his head to mess up his curly hair and smiling at him.

Just before Sarah started down the sidewalk, Kurt dug the house key out of his pocket and held it out to her. "You might need this," he observed.

"It might help, yeah," she agreed, taking the keys with a smile. "Thanks, Kurt, Jane… have fun, guys…" And with that, she began walking in the opposite direction.

"Let's go!" Sawyer exclaimed, and started walking quickly toward the beach.

"Hey, Sawyer! Slow down!" Kurt called. The kid was already a good ten steps ahead of them. Looking at Jane beside him, he reached for her hand and said, "We'd better catch up… I have a feeling he's not going to wait for us, despite what he just promised Sarah."

Jane smiled in agreement, not against getting back to the water quickly. They jogged after Sawyer, catching up with him just before he reached the crosswalk across Atlantic Avenue, and Kurt pretended to put him in a headlock with his free arm. "Slow it down a little, buddy," he said affectionately, letting go of his "captive." Sawyer just laughed, pushing his uncle's arm away.

They were back on the beach in a matter of two minutes, and made it across the dry, shifting sand without Jane even noticing any frustration. Sawyer managed to walk _with_ them, instead of running ahead, but after leaving his sandals and his not quite empty lemonade cup, which Kurt anchored securely in the sand, he continued on into the water while Jane and Kurt stopped. They were about ten feet away from the line in the sand that the water was currently reaching when the waves were at their highest, which seemed like a safe distance at which to leave their belongings for a few minutes.

Kurt took out his phone and the few other things he'd moved into the small pockets of his bathing suit when they'd left their towels and everything else at the beach house. Moving closer to her, he asked in a low voice, "Can I put a few things in your pockets, since I assume you're not going to wear those shorts in the water?"

She'd already taken off her t-shirt, once again feeling suddenly very exposed, as if her tattoos were inked on her in neon colors instead of mostly black. As she nodded at him, however, smiling as he proceeded to slide the things into her pockets himself instead of giving them to her to do it, she forgot all about anyone who might be staring at her. Once again, he was so close to her that she swore he was going to kiss her, but instead he just stared into her eyes, and, with everything in his hands now securely in her pockets, he withdrew his hands slowly.

Removing her sandals and then her shorts, folding them and setting them down carefully to try to avoid filling her pockets with sand as much as was possible, she saw that Kurt was waiting for her. His sandals sat beside hers in the sand, and for just a second she paused at the sight of them. Two pairs of sandals, lying beside each other on the beach. Somehow the image made it all the more real – that the two of them were actually there together, on vacation. Of course, she knew that it was real, but there was something wonderful about that small, additional reminder.

"Ready for a quick dip?" he asked.

"Definitely," she replied, and this time she was the one to reach for _his_ hand as they followed Sawyer out into the water.


	7. Holding on Tight

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

The water felt even better that time than it had any of the previous times they'd ventured into it that day, and Jane and Kurt followed Sawyer out into the waves once again, hands still joined. Sawyer stopped when the water came up to the middle of his ribcage, and Jane and Kurt stopped just behind him. The waves were just as big now, if not a little bigger, than they'd been earlier, and it was only a minute or so before they spotted the first one rolling towards them. Sawyer looked over his shoulder at them excitedly, grinning, and at the last second Kurt stepped behind Jane, putting his arms around her waist just as they pushed off the sand, into the swell of the wave.

This time, however, after baking in the heat at mini golf, Jane decided that she wanted to put her head under the water, too. Twisting slightly while they were at the top of the wave, she put her hands on his, loosening his grip on her just enough that she could push herself just far enough below the surface to be submerged, holding tightly to his hands. When she surfaced, as the wave passed them, he was looking at her in confusion.

"What was that?" he asked. She could hear the concern in his voice, and it made her smile.

"I was just so hot, I wanted to cool off," she explained. "It feels great," she added, "You should try it on the next one."

He looked at her evenly. "Okay," he said, "but tell me in advance. I need to know when I have to save you from drowning." She felt an urge to kiss him then – he was just too sweet for words. At that second, however, she realized that she should turn and check on Sawyer, who'd been right in front of them before the wave. Thankfully, he was still within an arm's reach of them, and he was watching the next wave roll in with anticipation.

"Hey Sawyer, two more waves, okay buddy?" Kurt called over the sound of the water, the volume of which was increasing as the next wave approached.

"Okay, Uncle Kurt!" Sawyer called over his shoulder, bouncing excitedly.

"You want to go under again?" he asked her, and she didn't hesitate.

"Yes!" she yelled over the sound of the water, and a second later they were pushing off the sand with their feet once again. At the crest of the wave, instead of floating themselves over it, they pulled back down, and this time she didn't have to fight against him to submerge herself just under the water. They popped back up as the wave passed, catching their breath and finding their footing, finding Sawyer still nearby.

Kurt shook his head slightly, blinking quickly from the saltwater, and looked at Jane, who was already turned towards him. "You're right," he told her, "that was exactly what we needed." Spotting the next big wave approaching, probably still twenty seconds or so away, he asked, "So are going under on the last one, or not?"

"Yes, one more time," Jane said gleefully. Kurt couldn't help but smile at her, nodding.

"Okay, last one," he called to Sawyer, who held up a thumbs up sign, hopping excitedly. Jane turned around to look at Kurt, whose face was once again just beside hers.

"Eyes on the _water_ , I believe is what you told me before," he mumbled into her ear, not at all unhappy to have an excuse to lean closer to her. She couldn't help but smile, glancing back out at the waves, but leaning her face against his. It was yet another perfect moment, another moment when she wondered if this could truly be happening.

Their third and final wave rolled in, and they rode over it, just as they had the over the others, pulling their heads underwater at the last second, just long enough to immerse themselves in the cool water once more. Coming back up for air, Kurt gradually loosened his hold on Jane's waist, and turned to call Sawyer, still hopping happily in the water in front of them.

"Come on, buddy, let's get going," Kurt told him. "Before another wave comes along to knock us over on the way out." Then, as an extra incentive, he added, "We'll definitely be back here, either later today or tomorrow." Sawyer turned and began bobbing back toward shore along with them, and Kurt dropped his hands from Jane's waist, finding her hand once more. They walked back out of the water to see how far down the beach they had ended up.

While they certainly hadn't been swept as far away by those three waves as they had by all their time in the water earlier, it was a few minutes before they found their things again. All three of them picked up their cups of now partially melted ice and their sandals, and because putting them on their feet again was useless for the moment, since it was impossible to walk across the beach with wet feet without having them end up coated in sand, with or without sandals, they just carried them. Jane picked up her shorts and t-shirt, not putting them on quite yet, since she was still dripping wet – despite _wanting_ to cover up at least _some_ of her tattoos – and Kurt grabbed his t-shirt from where he'd dropped it in the sand.

When they reached the boardwalk, they decided to sit on one of the benches on the far side that faced the ocean, while they dried off for a little while. Sawyer sat at one end, fascinated by the different people who were walking by. Jane sat down in the middle, immediately sliding closer to Kurt, who took her clothes from her and put them on the other side of him, along with his t-shirt, draping his arm behind her along the back of the bench and sliding closer to _her_ , as well.

The sun was hot overhead, and she knew it wouldn't be all that long before they'd be broiling again, even with the remains of their lemonade, watered down by the melting ice in their cups, if they stayed where they were. Still, it would be nice not to have to walk back to the house in only her bikini, so she was definitely in favor of sitting to dry for a few minutes. She sipped on her drink contentedly, leaning back against him.

Sawyer was completely distracted by the people passing by, and it was interesting to Jane to see that it wasn't just she and her fellow FBI coworkers that sat and scrutinized people, albeit on different levels and with different motives. That was when she felt the familiar sensation of Kurt's fingertips on her skin, his time as he traced the ink lines on her left shoulder, then down her arm slightly and back up again. No ice cubes this time, she also noticed, smiling at the memory from earlier.

She closed her eyes for a second, remembering her promise to herself that morning that she was _not_ going to interrupt him if he started tracing her tattoos again. On the contrary, she felt like it should be encouraged. As she opened her eyes, she wondered if he was doing it consciously or not. Keeping her eyes firmly on the people walking by in front of her and the view of the ocean, lest she break the spell, she had the feeling of wanting to freeze time, as she had so many times that day. This was perfect, after all.

He'd figured that with Sawyer distracted, he could get away with innocently tracing the lines on her shoulder. After all, why not? He'd take any excuse to make contact with her. Knowing exactly what he was doing, he started tracing the ink on her skin from her left shoulder, which was right in front of him as he sat with his right arm extended behind her, so that her left side was slightly in front of him. Ever since he'd started doing it a few minutes ago, she'd been sitting very still, leaning back against him, which he took as a sign that she liked it. He, of course, was happy to continue for as long as he could get away with it.

They sat in the hot sun on the bench for about ten minutes, just like that, before Sawyer began to get restless, turning to them to ask, "Okay, how much longer to do we need to dry?" Kurt's hand stopped moving, his whole hand coming to rest across Jane's shoulder where his fingertips had been slowly but steadily inching along.

"What do you think, Jane, are we dry enough to head back?" She was, after all, the one who wanted to put clothes on over her wet bathing suit, the idea of walking back from the beach, along the road, in only her bikini seeming less than ideal to her.

She rubbed at the fabric of her bathing suit slightly with her finger, deciding that it was 'dry enough' for her. "Yes," she replied, looking at Sawyer, "we can go back if you're ready." Sighing inside, she lamented the fact that she had to move. Just then she felt like she could happily have sat there like that with Kurt for the rest of the day – though she knew that at some point, she would have changed her mind, once the sun got too hot. She'd also noticed that no matter where they were, when she was with Kurt she felt like she could have stayed wherever it was they were indefinitely. The thought made her smile.

Sawyer jumped up from the bench, while Jane and Kurt stood up much more reluctantly, neither of them wanting to break contact. They did, however, and Kurt handed Jane's clothes back to her, then slipped his own t-shirt back on. Once Jane had her t-shirt and shorts on, they walked to the foot wash nearby, a square shaped poll a few feet high, where several other people were using the small spray of water that came out of a low faucet, operated by a button, to clean the sand off of their feet. Once those people were finished, one at a time, Sawyer, Jane and Kurt each also cleaned the sand off of their own feet, then finally put their sandals back on.

Before they started walking, while Sawyer walked to the drinking fountain nearby, Kurt walked up behind Jane, stopping close behind her. "Is my stuff still in your pockets?" he asked casually.

"I think so," she replied, seeing exactly where this was going. He reached around her so that his hands were on her hips and slid his hands carefully into her pockets, as if to check that everything he'd put inside was still there – though Jane knew that with the exception of his phone, nothing in there was likely to be of any actual concern to him. He pulled his phone out of her right pocket, pressing the button to light up the screen as he rested his chin in her shoulder lightly. Not finding anything he needed to see on his screen, except the time – 1:30pm – he clicked the screen back off and slipped the phone into his own pocket, but replaced his hand in hers.

There they stood, his chin resting on her shoulder, his hands in her pockets and her hands sitting lightly on the outside of her pockets over his, until Sawyer walked back from the water fountain. He looked at them and shook his head, a puzzled smile on his face, then said, "Ready, you guys?"

"We're ready," Kurt assured him, slipping his hands out of Jane's pockets so that they could walk beside each other, following behind his nephew, who seemed to be in a little more of a hurry than they were –as usual.

Since they'd gone onto the beach at 23rd Street, having headed straight up the block from mini golf, they had to backtrack slightly down the boardwalk to 25th Street, where they walked between the hotels and across Atlantic Avenue. Sawyer was out in front of them, impatient to get back to the house and see if his mom was ready for the rides that he was so excited about trying. They walked past the shops on the block of 25th street between Atlantic and Pacific, crossing Pacific to the far side and turning right to go one more street, that last half block that gave 25 1/2th Street its unique name.

As soon as they'd turned the corner, Sawyer ran the rest of the way to the house, and Jane and Kurt watched as he reached the front door and made his way inside. Sarah must have left the door unlocked for them, knowing that she had the key. Now no longer worried about keeping up with an energetic eleven year old – not that they'd really been doing it before – Jane and Kurt slowed their pace considerably, pulling slightly closer together. It was hard to believe that everything that they'd done in Virginia Beach – with the exception of sleeping very close together in the single remaining guest room – had happened that same day, and that that day wasn't nearly over yet. It seemed impossible that at that time the previous day, they'd been at work, with no idea that they'd even be away for the weekend. Life was certainly full of surprises.

They finally reached the door, and, upon entering, found Sawyer sitting on the couch, watching a cartoon that neither of them recognized. He looked up when they came in, and said, "My mom's asleep. Can we wake her up, do you think…?" It was a dilemma, to be sure. Both Wellers knew the danger of waking Sarah when she didn't want to be awoken, and yet, she _had_ promised Sawyer that she'd take a short rest and then they'd go to the carnival.

"How about this, buddy?" Kurt proposed, closing the front door behind them and walking towards the couch. "We'll let her sleep for another half hour, and then if she's not up, _I'll_ wake her up."

Sawyer looked happy with this plan, and Jane couldn't help but wonder exactly what she was missing. From the looks the two were giving each other, she guessed that Sarah didn't like to be woken up.

"Sarah's… not always very nice when she doesn't get the sleep she wants," Kurt explained. "It's good that she actually said that she wanted to 'lie down for half an hour,' because she'll have had more than that, and therefore at least in theory, she can't be mad if I wake her up…" Jane nodded, seeing that both of the guys must have been on the receiving end of Sarah's displeasure with being woken up more than once.

"Sounds like a plan," she said, heading for the bathroom.

Kurt looked at his watch to see exactly what time he was going to have to brave waking up his sister – a job he was _not_ looking forward to – and then ventured outside the small beach house to find the bench he'd seen as they approached, set off to the side in the shady yard. If Jane didn't find him there, he'd come back and find her in a few minutes. It seemed like a good place to sit and wait.

When Jane came out of the bathroom a minute later, she found Sawyer still watching cartoons, but no sign of Kurt. She walked to the kitchen and, for lack of anything else to do, she got a glass of water. She stood by the counter with it, staring out the window, when she saw the back of Kurt's head through the glass. Abandoning the water, she let herself out and walked around the house to the far side, where she'd seen him.

"I almost didn't find you out here," she said as he looked up with a smile. He was sitting on a slightly oversized wrought iron loveseat with a worn but soft yellow cushion. She walked the rest of the way towards him slowly, feeling a smile creep across her face of which she knew she had no control.

More and more, when he looked at her he found that he had to catch his breath. He wondered how in the world he'd only just started to understand what he'd felt for her for so long. He was smiling adoringly at her before he even realized it, and wondered if he looked as silly as he felt. Not that it stopped him from looking at her that way, of course.

Sitting down beside him, she felt him move towards her to fill in the little bit of space that she'd left between them, once again stretching his arm along the back of the seat behind her. Feeling butterflies in her stomach, she looked up at him and felt herself immediately calm down. As much as she might be unsure about things between them, he was first and foremost _Kurt_ , the person she trusted most.

"You didn't get enough of the hot weather yet today? You wanted to stay outside?" she asked, turning slightly and leaning back against him. He had turned himself as well, to match the angle she was sitting at so that they were parallel, and now had his hands clasped together in front of her, encircling her in his arms.

"Well," he said quietly, finding one of her hands and beginning to trace the honeycomb pattern on the back of it with one finger, "We could watch cartoons with Sawyer while Sarah takes a nap, or we can sit right here…"

She had to admit that she was a little drowsy just then, between all the time in the sun that day so far, the late night the night before, and how relaxed she was feeling, sitting there with him as he mesmerized her once again with the movement of his fingers on her skin. "Okay… good choice," she murmured, leaning her head back against him, feeling a soft chuckle rumble in his chest.

The next thing she knew, he was saying her name softly into her ear, which she immediately decided was a _very_ nice way to wake up. She shifted slightly, looking around and remembering where she was, that she'd fallen asleep leaning against him on the loveseat in the small yard of the beach house, and that he was now watching her as she woke up. The sleepy smile that she greeted him with was inevitable.

"Is it time to wake up Sarah?" she asked, her eyes closing again against her will.

"No, not quite," he murmured.

She forced her eyes open again, not wanting to fall back to sleep, and her eyes landed on the sunblock that was sitting on the ground nearby. "Oh," she chuckled, "sunblock again?" This was totally okay, as far as she was concerned.

"Might as well take care of that before we wake up Sarah," he said into her ear. She shook her head, smiling, and turning slightly to look at him. "What?" he asked, wide-eyed and innocent once more. "You disagree?"

"Of course not," she replied, reaching forward to pick it up. He had to let go of her then, so that she could reach, which she immediately regretted. Sitting back up, she put the two bottles on the bench beside her.

"Your shirt is kind of in the way of the sunblock application," he observed, keeping his face and voice as neutral as he could – with only partial success.

"That's a pretty smooth way to tell a girl to take her shirt off," Jane replied, looking at him playfully, even as she tugged slightly at the bottom of her t-shirt. "Won't I be _wearing_ this shirt at the carnival?" Not that she was against sunblock application either way, of course…

"Maybe," he replied thoughtfully, pretending to consider her question carefully, while bringing one hand to the back of her neck and tracing the ink at the base. She shivered involuntarily. "Or we might want to run right back into the water again when we're done. It's best to be prepared… right?"

"You're smooth, Weller," she chuckled. He gave her his best 'I don't have any idea what you're talking about' look, but couldn't hold it more than a few seconds before his smile broke through. Leaning forward slightly, she pulled off her t-shirt, leaving her sitting in her bikini top, this time with her shorts, once again.

Had there been neighbors across the street, she may have been slightly uncomfortable, but there were no houses on the other side of 25 1/2th Street. One of the newer high rise buildings had gone up across the street so that the remaining houses now faced the fence around that building's property. On the sides of the beach house, there were enough trees that, while not completely hidden from the neighbors on either side, they had a certain amount of privacy. Besides, she _did_ have her bathing suit on.

He reached forward to get the sunblock, which sat in front of her, and she felt the soft fabric of his t-shirt against her bare back. Once he'd leaned back, she scooted forward slightly to give him room to work, and she heard the familiar sound of sunblock squirting out of the bottle he'd just picked up.

Before applying the lotion to her back, he rubbed his hands together to warm it up, then started with her shoulders and the base of her neck, moving slowly and inspecting each tattoo as he went. He'd stared at all of them for many hours long ago in pictures, of course, and the uppermost ones were visible above a shirt, but it was completely different looking at them on her skin, like this.

Her head fell forward as he worked on her shoulders, and she couldn't help but feel that the sunblock application was becoming less about the sunblock and more of a massage each time he did it… which she did _not_ object to one bit. About halfway down her back – right around the bottom strap of her bikini top – he stopped to squeeze more sunblock into his hands, rubbing them together and then returning to his task, which had her both completely relaxed and simultaneously wide awake.

Finishing her lower back, he worked his way back up slowly. At her mid-section, his fingers worked their way slowly and carefully under the strap of her bikini top across her back, rubbing in the sunblock there and then carefully moving the strap back into place. He slowly worked his way back up to her shoulders, as she once again thought that she could have sat there all day if he'd kept doing what he was doing.

 _You've literally thought that you could 'stay there all day' about every single time he made contact with you today_ , she told herself.

 _Because it's the truth,_ her inner voice replied.

She couldn't help smiling when he planted a soft kiss on the back of her right shoulder, then leaned back slowly. "You are _way_ too good at that," she told him sincerely, turning to look at him, turning forward to lean her back against the back of the bench. "Who've you been practicing on?"

"You," he replied, as if it should be obvious. She chuckled as she picked up the spray sunblock.

"Okay, Weller, take it off," she instructed.

"Hmmm…" he said, tugging his t-shirt over his head, you get _'Your shirt is kind of in the way of the sunblock application,'_ and I get 'Take it off?'" The look on his face said that he was offended, but she knew for sure that he was kidding, and just doing an excellent job of keeping a straight face.

She raised her eyebrows at him in surprise. "Is that a problem?" she asked curiously. He _had to_ be teasing her…

He winked at her, unable to hold in his smile any more. "Not at _all_ ," he replied, grinning and pulling off his t-shirt, turning his back toward her, as she shook her head at him. He really was something else. She shook the can of sunblock and then slowly sprayed it on the top section of his back. Beginning her work with his shoulders and neck, as he had done on her, she couldn't help but think that there was no way she was as good as he was at this. Still, she was determined to try. If nothing else, it was her job to rub in the sunblock, and that much she knew she could do.

Finally his back was done, and he turned around to face her. Though it had only been a few minutes, she felt like she hadn't seen his face in far too long. _You've got it bad_ , the voice in her head told her, but she chose not to listen. On the contrary, she was feeling pretty damn good today. She saw the bottle of sunblock in his hands again, and for a second she wondered what he was doing as squeezed a few more tiny dots onto his fingers.

In a split second she remembered that he hadn't done her face yet, and that this was what he was about to do. How could she have forgotten? She kept her eyes open for as long as she could, closing them only involuntarily when he worked near them, as he dotted the cool lotion onto various point of her face and started rubbing it in. She was just as mesmerized by his eyes as she normally was, especially since his face was so close to hers. When he finished, reluctantly bringing his fingers away from her face, they smiled at each other for a second, neither of them moving.

Finally, she looked away, reaching with her left hand for the bottle of sunblock lotion, which he'd tucked between his leg and the back of the bench, steadying herself with her right hand on his knee. Sitting forward, she found that unlike on the beach, where she'd been able to adjust herself to the level of his face easily, there on the bench she needed to kneel to get herself to the right height.

As she pushed herself up onto her knees carefully on the overstuffed cushion, she felt his hands on her waist, steadying her. She knew that his main concern was that she didn't fall, but she also knew that he wasn't holding onto her bare skin _wholly_ unselfishly. Grinning at him, she shook her head slightly. Again, the innocent look on his face was accompanied by the "I'm not doing anything wrong, am I?" smile.

"I don't want you to fall while you're doing such an important job," he told her quietly. She just nodded at him knowingly, the look in her eyes telling him, _Right, buddy, that's exactly what it is_ , as her eyes twinkled happily. Whatever they were to each other, however much he might be enjoying what he was doing, she knew that his main concern _was_ for her wellbeing, and the feeling was powerful. Despite the fact that she knew it wasn't new, and she _had_ always known that he cared about her, somehow she'd never quite understood the full force of it.

As she worked on his face, he moved his fingers slightly, making sure not to let go of her waist but not exactly making it easy for her to concentrate. "You're going to end up with sunblock in your eyes if you don't stop distracting me," she warned him. He seemed to consider this trade-off for a few seconds, finally stilling his hands.

"Oh, okay," he conceded. "I guess it's worth keeping still. For _now._ " He gave her a devilish smile, and she just shook her head at him once again.

A minute or so later she was finished and let her hands drop slowly, lowering herself back down to the bench, though still kneeling. As she sank down, he kept his hands still, so that they simply skimmed her sides, ending up just barely on her back, slightly above the strap of her bikini. When she felt the underside of her arms brush his hands, the pressure from which would have pressed his hands against her skin more tightly, she raised her arms back up to drape them over his shoulders, as she had at the beach. Not that she had a problem with his hands pressing against her… but suddenly they seemed to be in slightly more dangerous territory and she was caught off guard. Of course, they were adults… but at the same time… And besides, if nothing else, they _were_ outside, and right in front of the window.

It was innocent and not innocent all at the same time, somehow, and her stomach was now full of butterflies that felt like they were caught in a wind turbine. He leaned closer to her slowly, stopping a few inches away and just looking into her eyes.

Before either of them could give any more thought to what they were doing or not doing, they heard the front door open and then close. His hands slid quickly back down to her waist as she simultaneously turned toward the door and leaned her back against his chest. Neither one of them was sure who they'd rather be discovered by, Sarah or Sawyer.

It turned out that it was Sawyer, having kept a close eye on the clock and noticed that half an hour had elapsed since Uncle Kurt had had he would wake up his mom in half an hour. "It's time, Uncle Kurt," the boy told him, slightly impatiently.

"Okay buddy, we'll be right there," he promised. Sawyer turned and walked back inside, appearing unphased by whatever the adults were doing.

As soon as the door closed again, they laughed, relaxing, as he pulled his arms around her, leaning his forehead against her bare shoulder. "Come on," he said, kissing her shoulder again, this time squarely on top, "he'll be back out in thirty seconds if we don't get in there." She knew that he was right, so as much as she didn't want to get up, they both stood, put their shirts back on, picked up the sunblock and walked slowly toward the front door.

Sawyer was waiting impatiently on the couch, and stood up when they entered. He looked slightly apprehensive as he walked toward them. Kurt smiled, understanding both Sawyer's excitement and his slight fear of waking up his mother. Sarah was generally very nice, but being woken up was one of the few times when she could be… unpleasant.

"Why don't you two stay here, and I'll give it a shot," Kurt told them. Sawyer nodded seriously, Jane watching the exchange with interest. Without another word, Kurt walked around the corner, and they heard footsteps, followed a few seconds later by a knock on Sarah's door. They heard the door creak open slowly and close again, followed by muffled voices. Sawyer and Jane just looked at each other and shrugged, waiting to hear how things went. The fact that there was no yelling so far seemed positive.

A minute later, they heard the door close again, and Kurt walking back around the corner. "She's getting up now," he said to his nephew. "She said to get ready to go while we're waiting. And I quote: 'Use the bathroom and put on sunblock.'" Sawyer rolled his eyes, exhaling heavily.

"I'll start with the bathroom," he said, moving quickly in case his uncle wanted to start putting sunblock on him. They smiled, already knowing Sawyer's dislike of it. While he was gone, Jane and Kurt picked up the two respective sunblock bottles, stepped outside the front door and finished their own applications. Sawyer came out and watched them as they finished up, and then Kurt beckoned him forward. He didn't want to, but he let his uncle quickly coat him in sunblock.

When Sarah emerged a few minutes later, the rest of them were ready to go, so she quickly sprayed sunblock on herself and they were on their way. Sawyer bounded down the street in front of them, Sarah calling to him to slow down but not quite willing to chase him, Jane and Kurt once again in the rear of the group, fingers laced together as they walked close beside each other. Once again, they headed up to the boardwalk, turning right once they got there, setting off on the ten block trek down to the rides, which were located at 15th Street. Ten blocks didn't _sound_ too long…

As excited as he was, Sawyer slowed down enough to walk beside Sarah by the time they'd reached 20th Street, but continued to bounce excitedly beside his mother. It was hot outside, and the ten block walk down the boardwalk threatened to overheat them before they'd even arrived. Jane couldn't help but wish they could go back in the ocean again, but she also knew that the little carnival would also be fun. Besides, she was with Kurt. He could make _anything_ fun – ever the times when their lives were actually in _danger_. Well, some of them, anyway.

A short distance before they reached the carnival entrance, they passed a cart selling hot dogs, a few other food items and a selection of cold, bottled drinks. "Hang on, Sarah," Kurt called, then looked at Jane. "Do you want something to drink?"

She nodded, having just had the same thought. "Anything cold… but… no ice this time," she said, biting the side of her lip to keep from laughing. He grinned and winked at her mischievously, then stepped up to the cart to talk to the man standing behind it. A minute later, he was back with two bottles of water. He handed one to Sarah, and the other to Jane, both of whom took them gratefully. Sarah took a drink and then passed hers to Sawyer, as Kurt had expected her to. After a few sips, Jane held the other bottle out to Kurt, who looked at her questioningly.

"Did you get enough? Are you sure?" he asked.

Smiling at his thoughtfulness, she held the bottle out to him insistently. "Have some, already, before I change my mind," she told him. He took it from her, taking a long drink as she turned to look at the ocean. Though he had trouble believing that the opportunity was presenting itself _again_ , he simply couldn't help himself, even knowing that he was getting himself into trouble. Before she could turn back around, he held the bottle up, quickly pressing the bottom third, still covered in condensation from the cold water inside, against the base of her neck. This time she was facing away from him, so he couldn't see her reaction, but there was no gasping in or expressions of shock – she seemed far less surprised. After all, it wasn't as cold as an ice cube, he figured.

There was something cold on Jane's neck, and while the initial surprise wore off quickly and she found that she actually _liked_ the sensation of the water bottle against her skin, she was in awe at the same time. He was really doing this to her for a _third_ time? What exactly was he trying to do, force her to retaliate? Reaching her left hand up and over her shoulder to the bottle that was against her neck, she grabbed the hand of his that was holding it there, then turned and looked at him through narrowed eyes over her right shoulder.

"Weller, I swear, you need to stop _doing_ that," she hissed, though the look on her face said that she actually liked it.

"You're just mad because I got you three times and you haven't gotten me once," he said, removing the bottle from her neck and tugging on her hands to spin her back around to face him.

"So, what I hear you saying is that I need to try harder…" she replied thoughtfully, watching him as though she was already formulating a plan. _Alright, if that's the way you want it…_

He could see the wheels turning behind her eyes, and he couldn't help but wonder exactly what he'd just started. Jane was more than a little bit competitive and, of course, something of a ninja when she wanted to be.

He handed the water bottle back to her as they continued toward the entrance. She took a quick drink and then, before he had time to react, thanks to her lightning fast reflexes she had the bottle at the base of his neck, moving the neck of his t-shirt out of the way with one hand as she turned the bottle upside down with the other so that she could pour what was left inside the water bottle down his back inside his shirt.

The surprised noise he'd made when the water had first made contact with his skin had caused Sarah and Sawyer to turn around to see what was happening behind them, and they looked on in amusement.

"Whatever he did, I'm _sure_ he deserved it," Sarah called to Jane, who grinned. He grabbed hold of her hands playfully, including the one holding the now empty water bottle, pulling her around in front of him. He tried to stop laughing, but found that for several minutes, he simply couldn't. His laughter was infectious, and standing in front of him, Jane couldn't keep a straight face either.

"Well that was _fast_ ," he said, "but I'll still ahead."

She just shrugged, still unable to stand up straight because she was laughing so hard. "Enjoy it while it lasts, Weller," she replied with some effort, as she laughed. "And just be glad _I_ didn't have a cup of ice this time."

He found the competitive side of her just as endearing as he did every other side of her. Leaning closer to her, he said quietly, "It feels really good, actually. If there was more water I'd be happy to do the same to you." He winked at her, and if he'd looked at her differently, it could have come across _very_ differently. However, he was still laughing, and she knew that despite whatever slight innuendo there might have been, he didn't mean anything serious by it. The fact was that it was so hot at that moment, that she could only imagine that it _did_ feel good to have water poured down your back.

"Maybe later," he added thoughtfully, grinning at her. He slapped him playfully on the arm as they both began catching their breath.

"Come on, you two, we're almost there," Sarah called from a few feet away, where she and Sawyer were waiting. Jane dropped Kurt's hands and jogged over to a nearby recycling bin to get rid of the now-empty water bottle, then ran right back to him before following after Sarah.

The fact that Jane went back to Kurt before walking to join Sarah, and the corresponding fact that he waited where he was for her before walking any farther to catch up with his sister, wasn't lost on Sarah. She had known, of course, that the two were perfect for her. Even though she didn't see very much of Jane most of the time, all it took was to observe her brother, to hear him talk about her, to know how he felt about her. It had been that way for a long time. While she gave them a hard time about things, Sarah couldn't help but grin at the two of them. It was fun to watch them figure out what everyone who knew them had known a long time ago.

"We'd better catch up with them," Kurt mumbled, his head bent slightly towards hers, "or Sawyer's going to come back and drag us in there by force." Jane smiled at the thought, though she didn't think Kurt was exaggerating just then, as she saw the poor kid looking at all three of the adults in supreme annoyance for the fact that they weren't yet inside the entrance to the miniature amusement park that they'd been talking about for _hours_ now.

They picked up the pace and caught up with Sarah and Sawyer, heading for the rides ahead, which towered above them from the next block over, off the Boardwalk at Atlantic Avenue. Sawyer quickly declared that he was going to ride "every single ride they have!" so Sarah decided to buy him a wristband that would allow him unlimited rides. Sawyer, of course, was more than okay with the idea of "unlimited rides."

Kurt knew that he and Jane were going to ride at least some of the rides, but before splurging on either tickets or a wristband, he thought maybe they should have a look around first. "Should we check the place out, then decide about all this?" he asked her while Sarah paid for Sawyer's wristband and some tickets for herself. Jane nodded in agreement, leaning her head against his shoulder, already feeling a little sleepy again. She was excited to try out the rides, of course, since it was something she'd never done before, but at the same time, the walk, her giddiness and the heat combined had taken a little bit out of her.

He leaned his chin against her forehead, slipping his arm around her shoulders. Sarah and Sawyer turned toward them, coming back from the ticket booth as Sawyer fastened his wristband. "Are you guys coming?" he asked excitedly.

"We definitely will, we're just going to walk around and check things out first," Kurt told them. Sarah nodded, not surprised to find them slipping away for a little while. "But we'll catch up with you in a bit, okay? You can try everything out so we'll know what's good," Kurt told Sawyer, who smiled at the idea of being the "ride tester."

"Okay!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, and turned toward the nearest ride, no longer paying any attention to them, as Sarah waved and followed him.

The park, being practically on the boardwalk in the middle of a beach town – in other words, smack in the middle of prime oceanfront real estate – was unsurprisingly small, not having been intended to be a full sized amusement park. Kurt found it adequate for what it was – a small collection of rides that was a bonus to people visiting the beach. Had he been to bigger amusement parks? Of course. Did that matter? Not at all. He would've been just as happy to ride every ride or none of them. As sappy as he knew it sounded, he was just glad to be there with Jane.

Though they walked slowly, simply enjoying the festive atmosphere, the smell of food in the air, and most of all, each other's company, it didn't take them long to weave their way around the whole place. It was fairly standard as far as a small, carnival type park went – rides that whipped you around and around, or side to side, or both at once. A few smaller rides for kids. A roller coaster, a giant slide, and a Ferris Wheel. And of course, games where you could win prizes that few people in their right mind would spend money to _buy_ , but which became extremely desirable when the goal was to _win_ them.

"This place is tiny compared to a _real_ amusement park," Kurt told her. Their pace had slowed almost to a crawl as they walked, his arm still around her shoulders, hers back around his waist.

"Oh, yeah?" she asked. He didn't mean anything by it except to tell her exactly that. Of course, there was always the chance of touching a nerve that came with calling attention to things that she still didn't know, even after all this time.

He nodded. "It's the same idea, this one just has fewer rides and is packed into a tighter space. You haven't been to Coney Island, have you?" he asked her, realizing after he said it that if she hadn't been there with _him_ – which she hadn't – then the chances that she'd been there at all were slim to none. It wasn't as though she knew a lot of people. The only person she'd ever spent time with when he _hadn't_ had at least an inkling of what they'd been doing had been Oscar… but he knew that the focus back in those days hadn't been about having fun.

Almost afraid that his thoughts showed on his face at that moment, he was somewhat relieved when she shook her head. "I've heard of it, though. Every time someone brings it up, Patterson and Zapata go on about how I need to go there."

He smiled, thinking that that sounded exactly like them. It was strange, thinking about the other members of their team. Of course, Jane was part of his team, and had been for a long time. It was just odd because for the past twenty hours or so, he'd been thinking about her not as a part of his team or someone he worked with, but just as _Jane,_ completely outside of the context of work.

Those few words served to remind him just how out of the ordinary this weekend was, and how before they knew it, it would be only a memory. A chill ran down his spine at the thought that it was going to end, and things between himself and Jane would go back to the way they'd been for the past eight months or so, since they'd managed to move past everything that had happened last summer. They'd simply been dancing around each other, never daring to get any closer.

 _It couldn't go back to that, surely… could it?_ It seemed impossible, and yet… _Once you're back home, you have to decide one way or the other,_ he told himself. _You have to make a conscious decision whether you're going to do something, or just keep dancing the way you have been for so long_. At that moment, going back to what they'd been only the day before felt… impossible.

After the words had left her mouth, she couldn't help but feel a strange sensation. Bringing up work, while not an uncomfortable subject, served to remind her that all this – what was happening between the two of them, whatever it was – was something that could soon disappear. Try as she might to silence the voice in her mind that screamed at her to _do whatever you want, but don't forget that this can't last_ , the voice had a point. In another forty-eight hours, they'd have to head back to real life. On Monday morning, things would be as they had been before, as if this weekend had never happened.

 _But was that possible? Surely, it didn't have to be that way…_ She felt panic rise unexpectedly inside her, and a sensation that she was falling, even though she knew very well that her feet were firmly on the ground.

It was almost as though all at once, both of their minds had jumped to almost the same thought… the fleetingness of their magical beach weekend, despite it only being their first day there. His arm tightened around her shoulders and he turned slightly to pull her the rest of the way into a tight hug. "Well, we'll just have to get out to Coney Island one of these days soon," he said into her ear, leaning close, sensing that her mind had gone to the same place as his. After all, they were usually just that in synch with each other, and it seemed to be happening that day more than ever.

"Maybe we'll even let the others tag along." Doing that, of course, would be significant if they were going to go as more than friends, because it would be showing their – relationship? – to the others. The idea that he even considered that was reassuring to her. Still, he now found it a little hard to breathe, but _not_ because she was laughing.

She hugged him back, wondering why she felt like she was holding on for dear life, feeling relief flood through her. _What exactly was happening, anyway?_ The tension that filled her had sprung itself on her so quickly, she'd barely had time to identify how she felt or why. _But of course he knows_ , she thought to herself. After all, he always did. Forcing herself to smile in an attempt to push the doubt from her mind, she just nodded, leaning into him and exhaling slowly, reminding herself to simply breathe in and out, that whatever happened, it would be okay. If nothing else, _this moment_ was evidence that whatever was between them wasn't going to disappear into nothingness.

The noise of the crowd and the rides around them slowly began to make its way back into her ears, and she lifted her head off of his shoulder, where it had been for the past several minutes. Making a conscious effort to exhale slowly again, she tried to smile evenly up at him, but feeling it falter slightly as uncertainly bled through. "Sorry," she said simply, not even quite sure what she was apologizing for, thinking that he was probably going to think she was crazy, and most likely ask why in the world she was apologizing. She had no idea how she would answer that question, which made her feel even more tense.

Instead, however, he just shook his head insistently. "Not allowed," he replied, kissing her forehead gently, his lips lingering on the spot for more than a few seconds, not moving. She felt her heart squeeze tightly then, and she couldn't quite figure out if what she was feeling was happiness or love or relief or heartache, or maybe some of each of them at the same time, or maybe something else altogether. The only thing she did know was that she didn't want to let go of him, and so thankfully, he hadn't made a move to let go of her yet.

He was talking into her ear again, and she tried to quiet the noise in her head so that she could hear him. "Should we go on a ride? You know, since we're here?" She nodded her agreement slowly, though she still wasn't ready to move. "I know a good one to start with, perfect for right now," he continued. "Look over there," he told her, turning them partway around and then pointing toward one of the tallest rides. "It's called a Ferris Wheel. You sit inside the car and it turns in a circle, just slowly – see how it's moving there? It just does that, and you go around and around. You get a really good view of the beach and the ocean – you can see really far from the top. Okay?" She nodded again, exhaling slowly and still trying to catch her breath. "And then after that," he added quietly in her ear, "we'll go on something faster."

She couldn't help but smile – at him, at that moment, at how she felt… all of it. Just then, she chose to believe that it was all going to be okay.

 _A/N: Okay, for all the people who want them to kiss… It_ _ **will**_ _happen, I promise. I'm not saying when, just know that it will. (I have an idea of when it will be, but honestly I'm not sure. The characters keep surprising me with what they do as I write) I'm just a huge fan of the tension between them (as you can probably tell), but… well, I'm not saying anything else about that. :)_


	8. Dizzy

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

She climbed into the seat of the Ferris Wheel, feeling it shift slightly as she sat down. Sliding herself across the bench, she found that the seat was rather large, and as Kurt climbed in next to her, it appeared that they could also have fit Sarah and Sawyer in there with them – though she was glad they were alone, of course. After her last burst of emotions had caught her off guard – as most of them seemed to do – she felt a little bit embarrassed. She knew that it was silly, because Kurt was the last person she should feel self-conscious around.

Still, as he slid across the bench towards her, she couldn't help but glance at him shyly. Luckily, the warmth of his smile was enough to make her forget any doubts she might have had. He looked directly into her eyes, and suddenly she remembered why she'd felt like it would be alright somehow. It was the effect he always had on her, somehow.

The uncertain look in her eyes as he slid across the bench toward her somehow just made him want to move more quickly towards her. He knew that he could make that look go away, and that the closer he was, the more successful he'd be. The bench was far more than big enough for them, but that didn't stop him from moving as close to her as he could, extending his arm along the rail behind her, as he'd done before. When she leaned against him, his right hand dropped to her right shoulder so that he could pull her closer to him still.

The car jolted suddenly, startling her, and she jerked forward, trying to find something to grab onto. Her right hand grasped the edge of the seat beside her, and her left landed on his right knee. She looked even more surprised that he did, and he felt her grip quickly loosen as her cheeks turned pink with embarrassment. Before she had a chance to pull her hand back, however, he covered it with his. Meanwhile, the car had slowly begun moving backwards, jerking slightly again as it stopped to let the occupants of the next car out, and new ones get onboard.

Jane had watched the motion of the cars while they'd waited for their turn to get on, so in theory, she had known what it was going to do. Still, it came as a surprise when it had actually moved with them inside. The next few times it started and stopped, she still found herself startled. His right hand had already been on her shoulder, and she felt a reassuring squeeze each time she jumped. Bringing her legs up and folding them up on her right side, so that the backs of her sandals faced the back of the bench, she leaned further into Kurt than before.

Her heart was still beating what felt like a million beats a minute, and he could feel it as she leaned against him. Turning her left hand over in his, he supported it with four gentle fingertips, while tracing his thumb along the back, brushing across the lines of the honeycomb pattern but not following them that time. Her tattoos were a constant reminder of everything she had been through – everything _they_ had been through, even – and just then he felt a twinge of guilt.

 _That's certainly different from how you felt a year ago,_ he thought, remembering.

Never in a million years, after everything that had happened to him and the years that he'd tortured himself over Taylor, had he thought that he would end up here. He'd felt too broken for anything as pure as the way he felt about Jane. And yet, despite how impossible it was, it had happened.

The price seemed unreasonably high, however. An entire life – hers – just… _gone_. Not that he was complaining, of course. It was the fact that _he_ hadn't been the one to pay that price, despite havingfaced his own ocean of suffering, that made him feel so selfish, so guilty. Never mind that he hadn't done it, that he'd actually been a _victim_ of the situation that had brought them together. Never mind that the woman who had been lost in the process had _chosen_ that fate. Never mind the fact that had she _not_ done so, Jane would never have been there with him. He knew this like he knew the facts of his own past.

No, he was _glad_ that they had both ended up where they had. Still, he felt that the cost to her had been so much higher than it had to him. He had merely been the one to benefit from her loss. And then, after all that, she had _saved_ him – from himself.

She sat there, telling herself that despite how it felt, this was not a dream. That he was holding onto her tightly with one hand, holding her hand with the other, and that all of it was _real_. It was too good to be true, and yet it _was_ true. The longer she sat there, feeling the soothing movement of his thumb on the back of her hand, the more she slowly began to relax again.

 _How many times have you had to talk yourself down today?_ she asked herself. She didn't know, but really, it wasn't important. The car jolted again, and they moved a little more as, somewhere on another part of the wheel that they couldn't see, another car filled with people.

They sat like that for a little while, until he could feel her calming down. Then, as the car jolted once again a few minutes later, he slipped his left hand out from under hers again, setting her hand gently on his leg, where the material of his now dry bathing suit met his skin just above his knee, and he began to trace the lines of ink that wound up her left arm.

This seemed to be his new favorite thing to do, she couldn't help but think from how many times he'd done it that day, and she had to admit that she was a rather big fan of it herself. _Who knew that these tattoos would be_ _ **good**_ _for something_ , she thought to herself with a smile. At that moment, it felt like an advantage that her skin was covered in ink. They were on the back side of the Ferris Wheel at the moment, and though they were closer to the top than the bottom, they still didn't have much of a view beyond what they could see from trying to look in between the cars and the mechanisms of the inside of the ride itself. Therefore, this was a more than adequate distraction for the time being. Or for any time, really.

He watched her as best he could from over her shoulder as his fingers wound up her arm, tracing the lines of ink that were so familiar from photographs, and yet still so completely new to his fingers. Never before had he felt so fascinated by another person. It wasn't the tattoos that drew him in, though he found that he had trouble leaving them alone when given the option. They were fascinating to him because they were on _her_ , plain and simple.

Finally, after jolting upwards a few feet at a time, they finally reached the top. The view over the ocean was breathtaking, and Jane sat up slightly to take it in. Kurt smiled at her sudden amazement. He hadn't seen this particular view before, of course, but he _had_ been on Ferris Wheels in other places, and he'd had an idea that it would be spectacular – which it was. A section of her hair had fallen beside her left cheek, and he reached up and pushed it back behind her ear, letting his fingers drop to her left shoulder, where he simply rested his hand as they looked out at the water in front of them.

For a second, she turned and looked at him, and the smile on her face felt like a reward for something he hadn't done. After all, this entire weekend was a reward, a gift, and seeing her that happy? He didn't know how he'd gotten so lucky.

"It's so beautiful," she said as they jolted slightly forward and down several feet once again, as yet more people offloaded the remaining cars and others got in. She leaned forward to look at the view, putting her feet back down on the floor in front of her.

"It is," he agreed simply, taking advantage of the fact that she was leaning forward, and moving his right hand back and forth across the middle of her back. This car was like their own little private vacation within a vacation. He was picturing the tattoos that he knew lay beneath the fabric of her shirt – it seemed inappropriate when he thought about the fact that that was what he was doing, and yet, he'd seen them more than once that day, in person, out in public... So many shapes, numbers and letters, pictures… his name, of course, not least of all. It was the thing that had brought her to him, and despite the circumstances of his name having been put there, when he saw it on her skin now… somehow that one tattoo made the whole thing seem more… real. _Not_ that she'd been marked as his. No, somehow it just seemed like, in some twisted way, all this had been meant to be.

The glittering water was slightly mesmerizing, enough that she actually leaned forward to get a better view of it, shifting herself slightly away from Kurt, though still within his reach. She felt his hand moving across her back, and thought how different his fingers felt against her t-shirt than they did against her skin.

Staring out toward the horizon, she could see no end to the ocean, and somehow it amazed her that some things could seem endless and yet, still have defined end points elsewhere, far enough away that they could simply not be seen. Of course, she knew very well that the shore on the other side was there, and simply much, much farther than a person could hope to see.

"It looks like it goes on forever," she said, staring toward the horizon. He smiled at the wonder in her voice, sure that he would never get tired of watching her discover things for the first time.

She turned back towards him, wanting to say something. Upon looking in his eyes, however, she felt the words erase themselves from her mind, seeing only him and nothing else. The car jolted slightly once again, and she turned to look back out to the ocean, her reverie broken. They were almost back down to the ground again. "Do we get off when we get back to the bottom?" she asked curiously.

"Nope," he replied, bringing his hand up to her neck, where he could make contact with bare skin, and rubbing it gently. "That's when we start going around without all this stopping. It took this long to unload the people from the last ride and load new people in. Now the ride can actually _start_."

It was funny to her to think that the ride hadn't even started yet, but it made sense. Every car had to be unloaded and loaded again individually, and that took a while.

 _It's been going on for quite a while and yet, hasn't even really started yet_. _It just took a long time to be ready to start._ She heard the words echo somewhere in the back of her mind, and it reminded her of the two of them.

"Are you having fun so far?" he asked, even though he knew very well what the answer was.

Looking back at him over her left shoulder, she smiled a sly smile and replied, "As if you have to ask." Shaking her head, she sat back against him again. His right hand dropped back to her right shoulder again, and she added, "This is literally my favorite weekend… _ever_." It would've sounded like an exaggeration from anyone else, but from her it was simply a statement of fact.

"And it's not even really the weekend yet," he said, winking at her when she turned her head slightly to look up at him. "There's still a whole weekend left."

Her smile widened. "Lucky me," she said, trying to keep from letting her smile take over her face completely, but failing.

"Lucky _us_ ," he corrected her. "This just may be _my_ favorite weekend ever, too." He winked at her, his smile dazzling as only Kurt Weller's could be.

"Wow," she said, glancing back and forth from him to the water and back again, not sure where she wanted to look. "That's saying a lot more than when I say it."

"Not really," he said offhandedly, shrugging slightly. His face grew serious then, and he added quietly, "There wasn't much in my life _before_ that I want to remember." He didn't need to specify what he meant by _before_. It was the same _before_ that she sometimes talked about when she referred to the time before she'd been Jane. The time she _couldn't_ remember.

It was funny, because she'd wanted so badly to remember, and then once she'd started, she wasn't so sure anymore. The pieces that had come back to her in less than two years, both through memories and what she'd been told, had been shocking. Looking back, the main thing her past had shown her that she was lucky to be where she was now. She'd learned things about herself that to this day seemed impossible... or that she _wished_ were impossible.

Kurt, on the other hand, remembered everything, and yet seemed like he would have been just as happy to forget. Happier, even, maybe, if he didn't have to remember his past.

 _We always want what we can't have,_ she thought.

Whether he remembered his past or not, it didn't matter as much anymore as it had a few years ago. _Before_. With Jane, for the first time the painful memories of the past had dimmed to the point that they didn't overshadow everything he did, as they had all his life. He no longer had to actively work to block them out. Nothing could erase them, of course, or any of the fallout of the past few years, but at least the past could finally fade into the background. The thing that mattered now, for the first time, was the present.

His traumatic past did him one favor, he supposed, in a small, twisted way, because now he was acutely aware of how very lucky he was to be in exactly the spot where he was. On that Ferris Wheel bench beside Jane.

She sat back then, turning as she'd done on the loveseat earlier, so that she was leaning against his chest, feeling his arms wrap around her once again. There were so many times when she felt like she was about to shatter into a million pieces and only his strength held her together. At that moment, however, it felt like the opposite. This was one of those rare times where she sensed that she was holding _him_ together.

He'd already put his arms around her, and now she grasped his hands tightly, pulling his arms even more tightly around her, as if there was some chance that he was going to let go – which, of course there wasn't. She surprised herself then, pulling his right hand to _her_ lips, and kissing the back of it. While a very 'Kurt' thing to do, she hadn't been so bold for the most part… not in a long time. But somehow, at that moment, it just felt like the right thing to do.

He leaned his face into her hair, inhaling the slightly sweet scent. He'd meant what he'd said, of course. Before Jane, there hadn't been much in his life – nothing _good_ , anyway – mainly just the emotional aftermath of Taylor's disappearance that had followed him since the age of ten. It hadn't stopped when he had met Jane, of course, though it had eased for a while when they'd thought she was Taylor. The first year he'd known her had been an emotional roller coaster, ending with upheaval – to put it _very_ nicely – that would have broken most people by itself, much less combined with the complications of their lives. Thankfully, they'd somehow moved past it all, slowly but surely – the lies, the torture, Sandstorm… all of it, and now… here they were. Somehow, they'd suddenly arrived at something he'd never thought that he'd find.

 _Happiness._

The ride continued to turn slowly as they watched ships bound in and out of the port at Norfolk move slowly in the distance, the sun glittering on the water and the horizon stretching out forever in front of them. Jane couldn't help but wonder if that was somehow a representation of the future. The past remained mostly a mystery from which she gotten nearly all the information that she needed or wanted. Looking back farther than that night in Times Square was of little use to her. Indeed, even looking back that far –with the exception of those moments when it was just herself and Kurt – was full of enough emotional pitfalls that she tried not to do it. Right now, the future was _far_ more interesting to her than the past. It was almost – but not quite – as interesting to her as the present, where she sat on a Ferris Wheel with Kurt, both of them holding on tightly to each other.

Eventually, the ride slowed to a jerking halt. They were on the front side of the wheel, looking out at the ocean. The sudden stillness combined with the noise of people first piling out of the car several below them, on the ground, and then a new group of people piling in, told them that their ride was almost over. She felt him shift just a little, seeming to pull his arms a little tighter around her.

"This was a good idea," she told him, not specifying what she was talking about.

"What?" he asked. "The trip to the beach?"

"Well, that too, _obviously_ …" she replied, turning around to look at him with a smirk, "but I meant the Ferris Wheel." He chuckled, having guessed that that was what she was talking about.

As the car jerked forward slowly several more times, unloading the cars between theirs and the ground and then filling them with new passengers, Jane and Kurt sat quietly, trying to drink in the moment and the beauty of their surroundings, leaning into each other. Far too soon, of course, it was time to surrender their seats on the bench to the next set of passengers. Kurt climbed out first, holding out his hand to Jane as she climbed out after him, and keeping it in his once she was on the ground once more.

"Let's go find Sarah and Sawyer," he suggested, to which she nodded. They had promised him that they would catch up with them again, after all. "I wonder if he's made himself sick yet." Jane looked at him questioningly. "Some people have the stomach for fast rides and big roller coasters, and some don't. From the way that kid talked, you'd think he was a roller coaster pro," he continued, "but I'll never forget the day a few years ago when he threw up on me after going on just one roller coaster at Coney Island." Jane laughed at the image, even though it sounded like it had been anything but funny.

"Maybe his stomach has gotten stronger by now," she replied as they wandered through the crowds. It wasn't a large park, and it didn't take them too long before they spotted Sarah and Sawyer coming down the ramp from one of the rides that didn't go very high, but appeared to move very fast, whipping the riders in circles while also going side to side.

"Jane! Uncle Kurt!" Sawyer called, walking just slightly at an angle.

"Hey buddy," Kurt called. They stood outside the gates of the ride, waiting for them to make their way out.

"There you are," Sarah said with a grimace. "Good, _you_ can go on some rides with him. I need a break."

"Sure, no problem," Kurt agreed. Sawyer was on cloud nine at the prospect of riding the rides with his uncle. "I'll just go get some tickets." With that, he moved toward the nearby ticket booth. Jane's hand was still clasped in his, and since neither of them made any attempt to change that, she went along with him. They waited behind several other people, and Jane watched as he struggled to take money out of his small pocket with one hand.

"You can have your other hand back if you need it, you know," she told him.

"Not necessary," he assured her, managing to free his money from his pocket, despite the fact that it hadn't looked easy. She chuckled at him, thinking that he liked to call her stubborn, but he was exactly that as well. Not that she was _complaining_ about him wanting to hold her hand, of course. The line moved up and so did they, finally reaching the window and buying enough tickets to last them a little while – or at least it sounded that way to Jane. Really, she had no idea how many tickets they would need.

That taken care of, they steered back over to Sawyer and Sarah, where Sarah was keeping her excited son in check, and was now sipping something out of a green cup through a striped straw. She smiled when they approached, her eyes going once again to their joined hands, and then back to them. "So, what are you guys going to do first?" she asked, looking relieved that it was her turn to rest.

"I don't know," Kurt replied, then looked at Sawyer. "What are we going to go on first?" Sawyer, suddenly understanding that it was all up to him, looked around excitedly.

"This one!" he exclaimed, pointing back at the one he and Sarah had only just come off of a few minutes before. "It's my favorite." At that moment, the ride whirred to life, now filled with a new group of people, and they could see exactly what they were in for. Jane studied it carefully, watching the way it constantly changed direction, and wondered how exactly that would feel once she was inside.

"Are you up for it?" Kurt asked, elbowing her gently.

"Absolutely," she replied. She wanted to try as many of the rides as she could… assuming they didn't make her sick, of course.

"Then let's go get in line!" Kurt exclaimed, mirroring Sawyer's excitement, and tugging Jane along with him.

"Have fun, guys," Sarah called from the gate around the ride, watching them happily.

The ride, as it turned out, was exactly as Jane had expected it to be from watching it. She was a little dizzy when it finished, though she didn't feel like throwing up, for which she was grateful. As the safety bars that had sat across their laps released and the riders crowded out of their respective cars, Jane sat still, trying to regain her equilibrium.

"You okay?" Kurt asked, looking down at her from where he stood beside the car. She nodded, a little too quickly, and felt it in her head, quickly closing her eyes against the sensation of spinning.

"Yeah," she replied, forcing her eyes open and pushing herself to stand up. "I'm fine." As she climbed out of the ride, however, she almost landed on the ground, despite the fact that Kurt was holding one of her hands.

"Easy," he said as she stumbled, luckily landing against him and not the pavement. The three of them walked slowly out of the gates that surrounded the ride, Sawyer bouncing along in front, Jane and Kurt behind, his arm around her waist for support.

"Uncle Kurt, can we go on the giant slide next?" Sawyer asked excitedly.

"Yeah, but just a second. Okay?" he asked his nephew. Then, turning to Jane, he said, "I think you should sit for a minute." She looked at him defiantly, a look he recognized all too well, and knew that he was probably going to lose this argument.

"I'm fine," she told him. "By the time we get to the front of the line, I'll be ready to go."

"And if you're _not_?" he asked her.

"Then I'll walk back down," she said confidently. Not that she had any intention of doing that, of course.

He eyed her suspiciously, unable to imagine her backing down, no matter how she felt. Knowing this wasn't a battle he would win if he chose to fight her on it, he just shrugged.

"If you say so," he shrugged, watching her carefully.

They had to walk single file up the stairs to the top of the _very_ tall Fun slide, which was nearly as tall as the Ferris Wheel. At the top, while getting themselves situated on slides beside each other, Jane couldn't help but notice just how _high_ they were. She'd been up that high in the Ferris Wheel, of course, but now that she was facing the prospect of propelling herself full speed toward the ground… well, the view looked a little different from here.

She thought back to the time she and Kurt had played around on a neighborhood playground near her safe house a few times, though it had been quite a while ago now. She remembered that the slide had been fun. Despite the height, which was a little daunting, she was excited about the prospect of a giant slide. And then, before she had time to think any more about it, she heard both of the boys counting down.

"3…2….1… GO!"

There was no more time to be nervous. They all pushed off together, flying down the track, wind rushing around them as they raced toward the ground. By then Jane had forgotten about being dizzy, and was enjoying the sensation of almost flying. At the bottom, Kurt was somehow already standing up when Jane became aware that she'd come to a halt, and she looked up to see him hold his hand out to her. She took it with a smile, allowing him to help her up.

They continued making their way through the park, Sawyer leading them, Kurt acquiescing to his nephew's desire to ride "every single ride" in the park – which, it turned out, did _not_ include the Ferris Wheel. "It's just too slow. That's so boring!" Sawyer had said adamantly. Jane followed along with them, determined to keep up.

Finally, about an hour later, they _had_ ridden every ride in the park, and a few of their favorites twice. He'd spent quite a bit on tickets – Kurt wasn't actually sure _how much_ , nor did he try to calculate it. He probably didn't want to know, anyway. By that point he felt like he'd had enough rides, and considering that they'd been on _all_ of them at least once, with the exception of the few made for kids, it seemed reasonable to stop. As much fun as they'd been having, he didn't think Jane would object.

Sarah was, as she had been each time, waiting for them outside the gate of the giant roller coaster, called the Skycoaster, when they emerged.

"What'd you think, Jane?" she asked.

"Now I know what the fuss is all about," she replied, her cheeks flushed – in a different way than Sarah had seen them flushed so far that weekend, because of Kurt.

While Sawyer walked over to his mom to tell her all about the roller coaster – _the biggest one I think I've ever been on_ , he told her excitedly – Kurt came to stand in front of Jane. "You want to go and check out the games, and then maybe go back out to the beach?" he asked quietly. She smiled, because it sounded perfect.

"Sure," she agreed, looking back up into his eyes and for just a second, feeling a little dizzy. This time, however, it was a different, more enjoyable kind of dizziness than she had felt after that first ride. Turning back toward Sarah and Sawyer, he waited a minute until the boy was forced to take a breath, still going on about the SkyCoaster.

"Hey, Sarah," Kurt interjected. "We're going to walk around for a bit, maybe go back down to the beach… how about we meet up with you two after that?" he asked.

"Sure," she agreed. "What time?"

"Well," he said, "It's…" he took out his phone to find out the time. "3:30 now… So how about we'll meet back up with you at 5:00 down by the sign for 25th Street on the boardwalk, and we can do something for dinner?"

Sarah nodded agreeably. "Sure, that sounds good," she said. "Call me if you need anything."

"Will do," he said. Jane waved at the two with her free hand.

"See you guys later," she called over her shoulder as Sarah and Sawyer waved back.

They strolled leisurely toward the corner of the park where the games were grouped together, Kurt's arm draped over Jane's shoulders once again, her arm back around his waist. First they walked the length of the game area to see it all, then doubled back and walked even more slowly, considering whether they wanted to play any of them. They weren't anything that Kurt hadn't seen before at other amusement parks, with most of the same standard prizes.

"Oh, look at that!" Jane exclaimed, as they walked by one of the booths. She was pointing at a wall of prizes, and Kurt wondered which one had caught her eye.

They stopped in front of the stand in question, and she swore she felt him pull her just a little bit closer. Chuckling, he asked, "Which one?"

"The zebra," she replied. The zebra stared back at them, about eighteen inches tall and covered in clear, sparkly sequins, its black stripes more of a dark gray than black. Kurt had to admit that it was one of the cuter prizes they'd seen. Jane seemed mesmerized by it, staring at it long enough that it was clear that she wanted it.

"So, which one of us is going to win that thing?" he asked. "Because I think we both know you don't need anyone to win a prize _for_ you."

"Oh, is that usually how it's done?" she asked, turning to look at him curiously. "The guy is supposed to win a prize for the girl?"

That was the way he'd always understood it, of course, but when Jane said it, it sounded ridiculous. He swallowed, grinning, and nodded. "Traditionally, that was how it happened sometimes… Of course, it's not a rule or anything."

She smiled, her eyes full of laughter that she held onto, for the moment. "Well, why don't we both play, and just see how it goes?" she suggested.

As far as Kurt was concerned, this sounded like the best course of action, all things considered. Realizing that they hadn't given a single thought to what the game actually _was_ that they had to win to get any of the prizes, including that sequined zebra, he now focused on the board in front of them, and the teenager who was running it.

"We're in luck," he said, leaning down toward Jane's ear – not because what he was saying was a secret, just because he felt like leaning closer to her. "To win these prizes, you just have be good at throwing darts." This was something that, unsurprisingly, they were both very good at. They'd played darts with the team more than once at a local bar back in New York.

"Perfect," she replied, stepping forward eagerly as he handed a ticket to the timid teenager behind the counter. Kurt chuckled to himself as he let go of her, noticing that she suddenly seemed unaware of his presence, already completely focused on her objective before she even had a dart in her hand. He hoped that the teenager running the game was ready to be impressed, because Jane was frighteningly good at this.

As expected, Jane hit all six darts directly at the target, the later ones actually knocking the earlier ones out of place. The young man looked stunned, and he just stood there for a few seconds, staring at her. "Wow," he said in awe when he could finally speak. "I've never seen anyone do that well before."

"Okay, Weller, you're up," Jane called over her shoulder, a look of satisfaction on her face. "Think you can match that?"

"Well, I'll certainly try," he replied, giving the boy – Eric, his nametag said when Kurt stepped up close enough to notice – another ticket and stepping up the counter as Jane stepped aside. A few minutes later, Eric once again had the familiar look of shock on his face. Kurt had done just as well as Jane.

"Who _are_ you guys?" Eric whispered loudly, over the music blaring through the air.

"FBI," Kurt replied seriously. "Good aim is a requirement."

Eric just shook his head, obviously impressed. "Oh!" he exclaimed, suddenly remembering part of his job, "What prizes do you guys want? Because you both won." Kurt looked at Jane with a smile.

"So, what do you want?" he asked her. "I bet I know."

She grinned. "Definitely the zebra," Jane told Eric, who took it down and handed it across the counter.

"What else?" the boy asked.

"What do you want, Weller?" Jane asked him. But Kurt just shook his head.

"Choose another one," he told her. "They're both for you. You won one for yourself, and I won you one. Best of both worlds." She rolled her eyes with a smile. Why did it not surprise her?

"Are you _sure_?" she asked him, standing in front of him holding her new zebra and taking a step closer to him. He put his hands on her shoulders and quickly turned her back around to face the wall of prizes, letting his hands remain where they were and bending down to speak in her ear. Again, not for any particular reason other than… he wanted to.

"Just choose something," he whispered, moving his left hand to the base of her neck. She got chills from the contact with the skin of her neck, and she smiled at the prize board.

Looking at the selection, she finally settled on a light green turtle, about the same size as the zebra, also covered with clear sequins. "It's like these animals are going to a party or something," she mused, looking at them as they walked away from the stand.

Kurt just chuckled at her. For the millionth time, he found his smile threaten to crack his face wide open. She was simply too much, in the best possible way. Their hands found each other's then, fingers automatically intertwining. Suddenly, she felt worn out from their busy day. "Do you want to go sit on the beach?" he asked, as if reading her mind.

"That sounds perfect," she replied. They made their way back out of the fun park, back to the boardwalk and down to the sand, taking off their sandals once again and carrying them as they walked slowly through the loose, dry sand. No longer annoyed with the difficulty of walking in it, Jane was now actually enjoying its warmth, the absence of which she noticed when they reached the more tightly packed sand. It was amazing how different it felt under her feet.

The beach was crowded now, since it was closer to 4:00, and the weekend seemed to be well underway. They walked for a while, close enough to the water that it splashed over their feet once in a while, when the waves rolling in were big enough. They came to a section of the beach that, somewhat miraculously, was less crowded, and Jane suddenly came to a stop. "This is it," she announced.

Kurt looked at her curiously. "This is _what_?" he asked.

"This is the perfect spot," she replied.

"Right here?" he asked, looking around. "You know we'll get wet if we sit here, right? Don't you want to be a little farther that way?" He pointed toward the boardwalk.

"Oh, well… yes," she replied. "But not too much." They turned and walked up to the line in the sand formed by the water at the highest it had come up recently. Jane planted herself about two feet past that line, dug her toes into the sand and set her animals down in her lap. She leaned back, anchoring herself on her outstretched hands behind her, her arms straight. "Perfect," she declared.

He sat down beside her, chuckling at how absolutely certain she was that it was the perfect spot, sitting close beside her so that their shoulders touched. Almost as soon as they did, she leaned her head against his shoulder, and his head fell against hers. "We must look disgustingly cute," she observed without moving. Kurt chuckled to himself. She wasn't wrong, it just seemed funny to actually be aware of it.

"Is that a problem?" he asked in amusement.

"Absolutely not," she replied quickly. "I'm just making an observation. There's _nowhere_ I'd rather be right now." He turned his head to the side so that he could kiss the top of hers.

"Me either," he replied, turning his face back toward the water and leaning against her once again. They sat and watched the waves as they came up closer and closer to where they were sitting, their toes only narrowly avoiding being splashed. Finally, after nine or ten close calls, the water not only licked at their toes, but continued straight on past them, soaking Jane's shorts. She squealed slightly, grasping at the two stuffed animals in her lap for fear that they'd fall off and get wet, as Kurt jumped up, not wanting the water to touch the items in his pockets, mainly his phone.

As the water receded, Jane couldn't stop laughing. Standing above her, neither could Kurt. He extended a hand to help her up, and then took the two stuffed animals from her as she brushed the sand off her hands. Then, feeling self-conscious, she slid her shorts off. Her choices, after all, were to either wear wet shorts or take them off and let them dry.

"I want to go on record as saying that I asked you if you were sure you wanted to sit this close to the water," he said as she tried to shake the wet sand out of her shorts, with very little success. "You chose this spot."

"I remember," she said slowly, trying to figure out what he was trying to say. "So?" Then, without waiting for him to answer, she looked down at her very exposed legs. Narrowing her eyes at him, she slapped him playfully on the arm. "Shut up!" she cried, trying not to laugh.

"Once again, I didn't say anything!" he replied with a twinkle in his eyes. After they grinned at each other for a moment, he leaned down toward her ear, which now seemed to have become a habit, and said, " _Not_ that I'm complaining." She slapped him on the arm again, feeling her cheeks turn what must have been a deep pink.

"Shall we move a little farther back away from the water now?" he asked. "Or do you want to go somewhere else besides the beach?"

Despite their unexpected run-in with the wave, she had no desire to go anywhere else just yet. After all, that was the point of their trip, and it was her first time at the beach. It was still almost magical, even if she was a little soggy. "We don't have to go yet, unless you want to," she replied. "But we should probably move back a bit, so we don't have to worry about getting splashed again." He nodded in agreement, and she realized that he was still holding the stuffed animals. "Do you want me to take those guys back?" she asked, pointing at them.

"I've got 'em for now," he assured her, holding them under one arm. She chuckled, thinking that it was really, _really_ cute to see Kurt with two sequined stuffed toys under his arm. She wanted to move closer to him just for that, but they were still walking in the sand, which made it difficult.

They picked a spot further back toward the boardwalk, where the crowd was thinner just because they were farther from the water, but still not _too_ far back, and stopped. Jane appeared to be thinking about the best way to sit in the sand, first kneeling, since her wet bathing suit would quickly be covered in very sticky sand if she sat any other way, but giving up almost immediately when she discovered that it just wasn't very comfortable. Kurt waited until she was done fidgeting and was sitting down just as she had been before, then he sat down beside her, just as close to her as he had been. He put the zebra down in her lap, letting the turtle sit in his. She grinned at the sight, each of them with a stuffed animal on their laps on the beach. It looked a little bit ridiculous.

"Now I understand why people bring bags when they go to the beach," she said, trying not to laugh.

"Hey, the turtle and I are having a very nice time over here," he said defensively. "Don't make fun of us."

She laughed quietly, covering her mouth with one hand to attempt to hide a yawn.

"Tired?" he asked, as if it wasn't obvious. It had been a short – though cozy – night of sleep and a long – though extremely enjoyable – day of fun. Of course she was tired. Having given up on the whole "not ending up covered in sand" thing, having decided that she as at the beach and it was going to happen anyway, she leaned straight back so that she was laying in the sand, staring up at the blue sky. The sun had moved behind the hotels behind them along the boardwalk, so the light wasn't nearly as intense as it had been earlier, though it was far from dark outside.

"I give up," she said, turning her head slightly to look up at him. "I tried not to end up covered in sand, but, well… it was inevitable. I'm not fighting it anymore."

He chuckled, looking down at her and unable to stop a smile from creeping across his face. It was one of those moments where everything – how he felt about her – seemed crystal clear.

"What?" she asked, noticing the change in his expression.

Even if he'd thought that it was a good idea – which he didn't – he was pretty sure the words wouldn't have come out.

 _Not a good idea?_ his mind demanded. _Because… You're going to wait until the end of time?_

 _We've been here, together like this, for less than a day_ , the other voice in his head protested.

 _You've felt it for nearly_ _ **two years**_ , the voice reminded him. _You just didn't recognize it._

But words weren't his strong suit, no matter how well he'd been doing that day, or how much better he could express himself around Jane than other people. No, it wasn't the right time for that.

So instead of telling her what had made him smile at her in the first place, he settled for something else that was also true that also came to his mind just then, which was also quite complimentary. He had a feeling he knew what her reaction would be, too… but he said it anyway.

"You…" he felt himself blushing slightly, and he shook his head, looking down, before looking back at her shyly. He knew she probably wouldn't believe him. That much he expected. What surprised him was his _own_ reaction to the two words, one of which he hadn't even yet managed to say. Despite feeling flustered, he managed to get them out – albeit in a whisper. "You're beautiful," he said simply.

He felt the color fill his own face at the same rate that he watched it fill hers, and for a second, they both glanced away before their eyes met again.

 _It can't possibly surprise you that that's what he thinks, can it?_ her mind asked. _You've seen the way he has looked at you all this time…_ Still, suspecting it and hearing it were two completely different things. Her mind simply didn't know how to process it.

He lowered himself to the sand, laying on his right side, facing her, his head supported against his hand with his elbow anchored in the sand.

"You know that, right?" he added quietly as a look of uncertainty seemed to pass over her face.

Her smile faltered, and she glanced away, inhaling sharply and trying to keep her breathing steady. He was looking at her with so much sincerity, and he was so much closer now…

 _You know it, Jane_ , the quiet voice in her head echoed. So why did she suddenly feel so… _desperate_?

For literally as long as she could remember, her appearance had been something she had tried not to focus on. After all, being covered in tattoos had been completely out of her control. The parts of her that weren't about the tattoos? No matter how hard she tried to make herself comfortable in the skin she'd been given – or, given herself, as it were – the tattoos always seemed to overshadow everything else. Between her looks and all of her hidden skills, she'd worked hard not to think of herself as some sort of freak, no matter what a valuable asset the FBI considered her to be.

She knew that she was extraordinarily talented in many ways, but she also knew that most things about her made her completely unlike any 'normal' person. And the way she was stared at for her tattoos – no matter how good she got at ignoring it – especially there on the beach… well, it was hard enough to just focus on not feeling like a mutant super soldier, never mind thinking positive things about herself.

She didn't remember anyone ever telling her she was beautiful before, come to think of it. Who would have, and when? No, she was sure she didn't have any memory of that.

So a few seconds later, when she felt tears prick the far corners of her eyes as gravity tried to pull them towards the ground, she was caught off guard by the swell of emotions she felt. It didn't make sense.

 _That was a compliment, stupid_ , she told herself. _You're not supposed to cry._

 _Shut up_ , she told herself. _I'm not crying_.

 _Oh really?_ the voice said doubtfully. _So those tears in your eyes are just… a coincidence?_

Her eyes closed involuntarily as the ache in her chest intensified. _You have to get out of your head,_ she told herself. _You're thinking_ _ **way**_ _too hard about this._

Something was happening in her head, he could see, and as he watched her carefully, trying to figure out what it was, he watched her go from happy to flustered to… what? Was she upset? But why?

"Hey," he whispered, the sound of the waves and the beach fading into nothing around them. With his free hand, he reached up and wiped the two stray tears from the sides of her face, one trailing down each temple towards the ground, against her will, as she opened her eyes and stared up at the sky. She couldn't look at him, only straight ahead. "What's wrong?" she heard him ask.

She just shook her head, closing her eyes again as she felt her heart rate accelerate. _Don't panic_ , she told herself. _Breathe. There's nothing to be upset about. Literally…_ _ **nothing**_ _. He said something_ _ **nice**_ _, for God's sake!_ Still, she took shallow breaths, willing herself to calm down but not quite succeeding.

He watched her with concern, trying to figure out what had happened in between when he had told her that she was beautiful and her sudden tears. All of a sudden, like understanding often did when it came to Jane, the answer to his own question hit him. _She's never been told that before._ It seemed impossible, but when he thought back, it was the most likely explanation. After all, she spent a hell of a lot of time being stared at, and _not_ in a complimentary way. He was pretty much positive that _he'd_ never said it to her before, for which he could've kicked himself, but given the nature of their relationship…

How had he not thought of this before? How had he not _said it_ before? After all, he'd always been mesmerized by her, and he'd always _thought_ she was beautiful.

 _But she can't read your mind_ , he reminded himself. _And working together… it wasn't exactly the most appropriate thing to say._

As he so often did, he reached for her hand without giving it a second thought.

Her thoughts were racing, and she couldn't settle on thinking about one thing, either positive or negative, for more than a second. It was beginning to make her dizzy, and this time _not_ the good kind of dizzy, despite the fact that she was already lying down. She had the urge that she'd felt so often in the past, to just disappear, but this time she fought it.

That's when she felt his left hand clasp around her left hand. Then, when he had a grip on it, he moved it slowly toward her other side to also gather the fingers of her right hand in his, squeezing slightly. She inhaled slowly, attempting once again to calm herself. His touch had always helped steady her, and this time was no exception.

Finally, after a long few minutes, she looked slowly back up at him, seeing the look of concern in his eyes. She wanted to tell him she was fine, because she wanted to _believe_ that she was fine, but the truth was, somehow the bottom had fallen out of her stomach and even now, she felt like she was falling, despite the fact that she was laying firmly with her back in the sand, her hands in his.

No, she wasn't fine. She wasn't going to _be_ fine. All of the doubts that she had about herself, about what would happen after that weekend, _all_ of her doubts about anything flooded her then, and, if it was possible, she felt even worse than she had a minute before. Her breathing became shallower and faster. Her eyes searched desperately but all she could do was shake her head ever so slightly.

"Okay, come on, sit up," he told her, tugging at both her arms as he sat up himself as well. She complied reluctantly, wishing she could curl up into a ball, though she wasn't sure why whatever was happening was even happening inside her head. She'd been deliriously happy, and then suddenly… She did her best to do as he was directing her to, knowing that while she couldn't trust her _own_ judgement at that moment she could, without a doubt, trust his.

With some effort, she found herself upright. He had let go of her hands at some point, and he put both her zebra and her turtle in her lap. She clutched them to her, feeling like a child – or, what she _imagined_ it felt like to be a child, since she didn't actually remember – but not caring very much at that moment. He was no longer beside her, which she didn't like, and she wondered what in the world he was doing. However, she didn't turn to try to find him, simply stared out at the water, suddenly feeling like she was all alone in the world. The noise in her head was too loud to let her focus on anything else.

He moved around her until he sat behind her, adjusting his position in the sand, one knee in the air on either side of her. Leaning forward, he put one hand on each of her shoulders and squeezed gently. He knew from experience that it would've worked better if she hadn't still been wearing her t-shirt – and couldn't help but smile for a second because that seemed like an _awfully_ intimate thing to know about one of his coworkers – but the fact was that he'd rubbed sunblock on her back and shoulders multiple times that day, so he actually had a rather _innocent_ reason for this knowledge. Still, something was better than nothing, and he continued to press his fingers into her shoulders slowly, running his thumbs up and down her bare neck as he reached the center.

Slowly, the tension in her was loosening, he noticed. He'd thought maybe she'd listen to him better if she didn't have the added pressure of feeling him staring at her. Not because she'd given him any indication that she didn't like him looking at her, just because he had a feeling that it might be easier to process what he wanted to say without it. After all, he figured, there they were on the beach, and most people found the view of the ocean calming. It was worth a shot.

"Just listen, okay?" he asked, leaning forward over her right shoulder. She just nodded, leaning her head against his. He found that to be encouraging, and tried his best to keep his head still while still moving his hands. "I know… that nothing has been easy for you." He felt her breath hitch in her chest slightly, and he leaned forward into her just a little more in response. "And I know that that's a gross oversimplification." She nodded at that, her movement so small that had he not been as close to her as he was, he would likely have missed it. His hands were still rubbing her back, slowly and gently, and he felt her gradually relaxing.

"I also know," he continued slowly, "that you have no idea how amazing you are." He felt her tense again slightly and he shook his head sadly. Despite the fact that he'd said it, he still couldn't believe that it was possible that Jane didn't know this. "And obviously you don't hear it nearly often enough."

An ache squeezed at her heart. _And who would tell me that?_ she wondered. It wasn't as though she had a family – Shepard and Roman had been the closest to that, and… well, it had been them or her team. It hadn't been easy, but she had never second guessed her choice since then. It wasn't as if she had any friends outside of her team either. No, she had her team. Patterson, Zapata, Reade… and of course, Kurt. She loved them all, and she knew that they cared about her, but… that kind of thing? It just wasn't the way they related to each other.

"I forget, sometimes," he continued quietly, "that you don't know how amazing you are. Because it's so obvious to the rest of us." He stopped, watching her look down at the sand. "To _me_."

She swallowed hard, wondering how it was possible to feel both so happy and so empty at the same time. _Because one of the few things you_ _ **do**_ _remember is what it's like to feel like he cares for you, and then to watch it all fall apart_ , something from the back of her mind told her. That was what had happened the previous year, after all. _It's scary to think of it happening again._

Kurt had paused to let him words sink in, but now he was talking again, his hands still in constant motion, working their way down her back and back up again, never stopping even when he was silent. "There are so many different ways that a person can be beautiful," he said tentatively, feeling her tense up again a little. "The way they act towards other people, the way their minds work… it's so much more than just the way they look… it's all a part of it. And then there's people who are beautiful in every way." He paused for a second, now wishing he could see her reaction. " _You_ are one of those people, Jane."

He heard her scoff quietly in what he assumed was disbelief, and he turned to try to see her face from where he sat, slightly behind her, ending up looking hard at her profile. "I told you, no more lies, remember?" She nodded, staring at the ocean. She could feel him staring at her, but couldn't bring herself to look at him in return. "Face it," he said, trying to keep his tone serious and yet light, "I'm telling the truth. You're beautiful, and you're just going to have to deal with it."

She smiled then, almost against her will. Somehow, he'd gotten through to her, the way he always managed to. It was a mysterious combination of exactly the right words, and yet having absolutely nothing to do with the words he was saying. Somehow, it worked. Finally, she felt herself relax, leaning against him instead of trying to sit stiffly upright on her own. He stopped rubbing her back and yet again, pulled his arms around her tightly. He would've done it a thousand times if that was what it took.

They sat that way for a while, watching the water quietly, perfectly content. "What time is it, anyway?" Jane asked, breaking the silence finally. Kurt shifted so that he could take his phone out of his pocket.

"Almost 5:00," he replied, clasping his hands together in front of her once again, where they'd been before he'd moved to get his phone.

"I guess we should go and meet up with Sarah," Jane said reluctantly, though she really didn't like to even think about moving from the spot where they were.

"I could text her and tell her we're not going to make it," he suggested, not any more excited about the idea of moving than she was. "I'm sure she'd understand."

Jane smiled at the thought of having more of this moment alone with Kurt. "I like the way you think," she told him.

"Of course, we will _eventually_ have to move," he told her. "At some point we'll need to eat, probably sooner than later…" She was leaning her cheek against his, and he could feel the muscles in her face pull into a smile.

"But not _now_?" she asked. "Because I like the sound of not having to move right now."

"We can afford to stay here a while longer," he told her. "Just let me text Sarah and let her know not to wait for us." He freed his hands once again, scooting alongside of her on the right so that they could lean against each other while he typed his message. Her head fell against his shoulder, which was becoming almost second nature when she was beside him. When he'd sent the text, without saying anything, he picked up her right hand in his left, and once again began tracing the honeycombs on her skin with his right.

She smiled up at him, and he met her eyes, feeling a little self-conscious. "Sorry," he said, "it's kind of become a habit, I guess."

"I'm certainly not going to stop you," she replied, her smile giving away how happy she felt just then as she looked down at the ink on the back of her hand. She was used to what she saw, of course, and couldn't remember a time when it hadn't been there… but still, she had always felt that it made her different… and not in a good way. Especially since she'd found out about the circumstances under which it had all happened.

At that moment, however, somehow something finally clicked in her head. _See_ , the voice said, _he really does think you're beautiful._ Looking up at him in surprise then, she found him watching her intently. Suddenly, it was as if his words were finally able to sink in, and she blushed.

Once again, he couldn't be sure what was going on in her head, but somehow the shift in her mood he detected then seemed to be for the better. Something had made sense to her, it appeared.

She was such a paradox. So strong and yet so fragile, all at once.

They sat like that as the afternoon slowly faded into evening. Soon, they would need dinner. But as the air cooled down from the stifling heat of the day and the light slowly faded as the sun fell behind the tall hotel buildings behind them, there was something just perfect about where they were, her hand in his.


	9. More Complicated

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N:_ _Here's yet another installment of Jane and Kurt at the beach. And yes, they're finally reaching the end of the first day. :) Thanks for reading and reviewing, and I hope you all enjoy this chapter..._

At some point as they'd sat beside each other on the beach, leaning against each other, her hand in his, the beach had slowly started to empty. Those around them, especially families with children, were making their way off the sand toward hotel rooms to find dinner. Kurt knew that they needed to do this too, but this was a moment that neither of them seemed willing to part with, and getting up was something neither of them wanted to do until it was necessary.

Finally, Jane broke the comfortable silence between them. "It's too bad the sun doesn't set in the east," she lamented. " _That_ would be perfect."

Kurt chuckled at her declaration, looking down at the ink covered hand he was gently holding for what had to have been the five thousandth time since they'd been sitting there. He nodded his head in agreement that yes, that would indeed have been perfect. "Well," he said thoughtfully, "there's two things I can think of that we can do about that, since we can't actually change the direction the Earth spins or where the sun rises or sets."

She turned to look at him curiously. While she hadn't actually been asking for a solution to the problem, simply stating that she would have loved to have watched the sunset as they sat there, she was interested to know what these two things they could do about not being able to watch the sun setting over the beach.

"The first one is, we can go somewhere else and watch the sunset," he said, "since we're obviously not going to convince it to set here."

"Too bad," she pretended to pout, only keeping a straight face for a few seconds before the smile she'd been wearing for most of the day returned.

He just shrugged. "We'd have to be in California to watch the sun set over the water," he said. "And even though they're three hours behind, we wouldn't make it in time. So, sadly, that's just not happening today."

"I know," she nodded.

"Maybe another time," he added casually.

 _Maybe we'll happen to go to California sometime in the future and see the sunset?_ she thought in surprise. _Talk about planning ahead…_ She just smiled, looking at the sand, unable to meet his eyes. She tried not to guess what that sentence implied, and had to fight to keep her mind on their current conversation.

 _I'm sure he didn't actually mean it to be analyzed to the degree that you're already doing it,_ she told herself. Or maybe he _had_ meant what he'd said, but it was easier to tell herself that he hadn't and not risk future disappointment. No matter what she may have felt was happening between them, nothing was sure.

 _He hasn't told you in words, maybe – though his words_ _ **have**_ _been exceptionally sweet – but you know how he feels about you_ , she told herself. Still, even after all this time and all the evidence to the contrary, she resisted believing it.

"What's the other thing?" she asked, steering the conversation into safer territory.

"Well, I'm not sure how likely this is, but we could come back down here early and watch the sun _rise_ over the beach. It happens disgustingly early, I'll admit, but maybe it's worth it…?" He looked at her questioningly. "I leave that up to you."

She shrugged, unsure what to say. It wasn't that she _couldn't_ get up early enough. If she decided to, she certainly could. Even now, almost a year after she'd come back to the FBI, she still didn't always sleep well – hell, never in her two years' worth of memory had she consistently slept well, and she _still_ had nightmares sometimes, though far more seldom than she used to… so lots of mornings she was up before the sun, anyway. Except that… she'd slept _exceptionally_ well the night before.

 _Because you woke up with Kurt curled up behind you,_ the voice in her head reminded her. _Could_ _ **that**_ _be a coincidence?_ It was both exciting and awkward to think about the impending night and the sleeping arrangement just then. After the day they'd had and the amount of flirting that had taken place between them, you'd have thought that she would have simply felt elation… but no. Nothing could ever be that simple with her.

But there was so much unspoken between them, and so much had happened in that one day… She'd made impulsive decisions before, of course – Oscar flashed before her eyes before she could stop him, though she forced him out of her mind again just as quickly.

There was suddenly hesitation in her expression, and he watched her look down, suddenly not meeting his eyes as she shrugged her shoulders.

"It seems like such a shame to think about morning right now," she replied, looking back up at him and smiling only slightly less than before, looking like she was trying to recover from whatever thought had suddenly bothered her enough to make her look away.

She wasn't telling him what had actually been bothering her, or, not _exactly_ , he could tell, but he let it go. He knew that he could have pressed her on it, and she probably would have told him, but there was time for that later. Besides, she wasn't wrong. It _did_ seem like a shame to think about tomorrow when _right now_ was so perfect.

"So, I bet we can find somewhere to see the sunset, if you want to," he told her, going back to a more comfortable topic. "Of course, that will mean getting up out of the sand."

Starting to think about getting up after sitting on the beach for so long, she finally gave some thought to the sand that was now everywhere on her. "My hair is full of sand, isn't it?" she asked, turning so that he could look at the back of her head. A decent amount of now-dry sand was visible in her dark hair.

"Yep, it is," he chuckled, bringing a hand up to the back of her head and combing his fingers through her hair, more slowly than would have made sense if his _sole_ purpose had been to remove the sand, shaking it gently.

She immediately dropped her head as she played with her hair, his hand brushing the back of her neck several times, giving her chills once again. "Remind me to lay down in the sand again tomorrow," she said happily, smiling shyly and looking down at her lap.

Chuckling, he wove his fingers through her hair a few more times, despite the fact that he'd now gotten as much of the sand out as he was able to for the time being, running his thumb up and down her neck for good measure.

"Now you're just doing it on purpose," she said quietly, which made him chuckle.

"Hey, you asked me if you had sand in your hair," he said, pretending to be defensive. "I was just helping you out by getting rid of it." She chuckled softly, raising her head and turning to look at him.

"Of course you were," she said, grinning as the look on his face made it _obvious_ that that wasn't the case.

"Any other sand you need help with?" he asked, feigning innocence despite the fact that they both knew that the rest would mainly be sand she'd been sitting on.

She looked at him pointedly, with an expression that said _Behave yourself_ , though playfully, and he stood up, pulling her up a few seconds afterward as well. She brushed the sand off of herself and the bottom of her bikini the best she could, considering that most of it would remain stuck to her until it could be rinsed off. She retrieved her shorts from where she'd laid them nearby, shaking them out, hard, to try to get as much of the sand out of them as possible, as well. As with her bikini, it was only a partially successful endeavor. Still, she put them back on, even though they were still a little damp.

He'd been holding the stuffed animals while she'd figured out the sand situation, and she now looked at him and wanted to laugh. Her eyes met his again only after looking at the sequined animals he was holding. "We should probably go back and drop those guys off at the house…" she started to say.

"We could, but we don't have the key…" he pointed out. "I mean, I'm sure they'll be back there eventually. We could text Sarah…"

She shook her head quickly, before he did anything hasty. Honestly, though it was selfish, she liked having him all to herself. If they met up with Sarah and Sawyer again, who knew if they'd get away by themselves again? She knew it was silly… but at that moment, she really didn't care.

"We could go into one of those stores on Atlantic that sells all the touristy stuff and find a beach bag," she suggested. "Then we'd have somewhere to put our stuff, rather than just our pockets."

He nodded, though he looked slightly disappointed. "Are you saying you don't want to hold things in your pockets for me?" he asked with a completely straight face. She blushed slightly, chuckling and shaking her head at him. "What?" he asked, as if he had no idea why she was reacting that way. "It's a serious question."

"Sure it is," she smiled at him. He took a step closer to her, hooking his index and middle fingers carefully inside her pockets, while somehow not dropping the stuffed animals.

"I support the bag idea, as long as pockets are still an option," he said, still pretending to be serious.

"Okay," she whispered, chuckling at him and shaking her head once again. "Do we have time? Or will we miss the sunset?"

"I don't think the sun will be setting for a while yet," he replied. "It's summer, after all… still, we should try not to take _too_ long shopping."

"Ready when you are," she said, turning to walk across the sand back toward the boardwalk. Their hands automatically seemed to connect this time, to the point where neither of them could have said which of them initiated it, their sandals dangling from their free hands and Kurt still carrying the stuffed animals under his arm.

Once off the beach, they rinsed the sand off their feet and put their sandals back on, then headed back along the sidewalk that ran between the hotels, not even paying attention to what numbered street they were on – it didn't matter at that point, anyway. The crowds here were thicker now, the people who had abandoned the beach now milling around on the sidewalks, in search of food, entertainment, or both. The far side of Atlantic Avenue, facing the beach, was lined with souvenir stores, assorted ice cream and frozen yogurt shops and other restaurants, as well as a few hotels that lacked beachfront view rooms. The souvenir shops, as in most beach towns, mostly contained exactly the same merchandise, all emblazoned with the words _Virginia Beach_. They walked into the first large shop they came to, called Sunsations, which was part of a chain that Kurt had seen in other cities along the coast.

Instead of going straight for the bag section, as Kurt did, Jane meandered among the racks of clothing, so that when he looked up, thinking that she was close behind him, it was a minute before he found her on the other side of the store. Chuckling and shaking his head, he walked back to see what had caught her eye. When he got there, he found her fingering the material of a dark blue, lightweight cotton shirt. It looked like a t-shirt, but with long sleeves and a zipper down the middle, and, he also noticed, it appeared to be too big for her. Picking up the hanger from the rack, she held it up against him, nodding approvingly. The material felt very soft, and he understood why she'd stopped on that particular one.

"Do I need something that says _Virginia Beach_ on it?" he asked her in amusement.

"You might," she answered, looking at it. "What do you think?"

"I think," he began with a grin, "you're already planning on stealing it from me, aren't you?" The surprised look on her face told him that she hadn't expected him to figure this out, at least not so quickly, and it only made him laugh. He handed her the animals and he took the shirt off the hanger, unzipping it and pulling it on. When he'd zipped it partway up and pulled the sleeves up slightly, he looked at her questioningly. "So?" he asked.

For some reason, she hadn't expected him to ask her opinion. _Well, you're the one who brought it up,_ she reminded herself. _And you're the one he's here with_. Still, it suddenly seemed like such a strange thing – him asking for her opinion on clothes. They'd never been shopping together, after all. It wasn't that she didn't want to give her opinion, it just seemed… _It seemed like more of a…_ she hesitated, even in her head. _More of a… girlfriend thing to do._

But he was looking at her and asking for her opinion. And it looked perfect on him.

"It looks really good on you," she replied, smiling in slight embarrassment that she'd started the whole conversation.

"Okay," he said casually. It actually _was_ very comfortable. He had a few sweatshirts, but not too many. And Jane obviously liked it, so…

Hanging it back on the hanger and holding onto it, he followed Jane to the beach bag section, her need to look at clothing now apparently satisfied. If he wasn't mistaken, she looked slightly flustered, and he wondered exactly what that was about. When he walked up beside her in front of the bags, he saw that her eyes had fallen immediately on a bag that was a light green color, covered in a pattern of large dark green flowers, with a long handle at the top. She picked one up, examining it with interest as he watched her.

 _The green matches her eyes,_ he couldn't help but think.

"It's perfect, I think," she said, turning to face him, as he nodded in agreement. She dug her hand into her pocket, but he shook his head slightly, taking the bag from her.

"I got it," he said, walking to the counter and leaving her standing there, staring after him.

 _He what?_ He'd already paid for pretty much everything that day. Now he was going to buy not only a sweatshirt, but a beach bag – just because _she_ wanted them? She followed him slowly to the counter, once again surprised and overwhelmed.

They walked out of the store a few minutes later, the sweatshirt and the stuffed animals now inside the new beach bag, which he carried. "Thank you," she said, stopping outside the door. "You didn't have to do that." He turned around to face her and smiled warmly, that smile that she liked so much.

"I know," he said, shrugging casually, as if it was nothing. "I wanted to." He watched as her cheeks turned slightly pink and she looked down for a second, and he took that time to take her hand, which immediately made her smile. "Come on," he added, "let's go see if we can find somewhere to watch the sunset."

After consulting the map of the area on his phone for a minute, and walking a few blocks down the street, they found the entrance to one of the public parking garages. He held the door open for her, and she reluctantly let go of his hand to go through in front of him. "Let's see if this works," he said, winking at her.

"You'd think that compared to most of our missions, this one would be relatively simple," she chuckled.

"But sometimes it's the ones that you think will be simple that are unexpectedly complicated," he replied. His expression made her wonder if he was talking about more than just missions.

They stood and waited for the elevator, which they could hear slowly chugging toward the ground, and he took a step towards her, reaching for her once again. He'd only just let go of her hand so that they could get through the door, and already he felt the absence of it. _Work is gonna be rough if you can't go without holding her hand more than a minute_ , he told himself, but dismissed the thought as quickly as it had come. That was his problem for _Monday_ , not for now.

She looked over as he stepped towards her, and his hand slipped around her shoulders. Though he'd done it enough times that day that she'd lost count, she got the same shiver of excitement as she had when he'd done it the first time, and her smile was equally wide. The elevator groaned open, slowly, and they stepped inside, Kurt pressing 5, the top floor, before moving further inside as several other bathing suit clad tourists got in behind them. To make room, they stepped against the far wall, and, as more people than expected filed in to fill the elevator to capacity, they squeezed themselves more tightly together – not that either of them minded.

The elevator made stops at each floor, until finally, as it slowly approached the top, they were the only two left. Despite the fact that there was now plenty of space, they remained squeezed together in the corner, as if by mutual agreement, without having exchange a word about it. For some reason, Jane had a flashback to the day they'd been dressed up for Rich Dotcom's black tie party, at which they'd been playing the roles of husband and wife. They'd stood in the elevator at the FBI building in New York when he'd put the fake wedding ring on her finger… not handed it to her, but actually taken her hand put it on her finger. She didn't know what made her think of it just then, since they'd obviously been in elevators together since then… Still, she couldn't help but smile and lean her head against him.

When the doors opened, they stepped out to look around. As Kurt had hoped, they were on the roof, nothing above them but the sky. Though the fifth floor wasn't exactly a tall building, relatively speaking, with the lack of buildings taller than the one they were on to block their view, they could easily see the color in the sky to the west. They walked to the west side of the garage, all the way up to the edge of the parking structure.

Jane leaned hesitantly against the edge and glanced down to the ground five floors below, then quickly back up at the colorful sky. Kurt stood behind her, his head leaning forward slightly in the space above her right shoulder, his hands resting on the concrete edge of the garage on either side of her, close enough that his arms rested against her sides.

"Well, it's not quite the same as sitting on the beach," he said quietly, just above her right ear, "but it's still pretty spectacular."

In reply, she simply leaned her head against his cheek, as she'd gotten into the habit of doing when he put his face beside hers. She breathed in and out slowly, attempting to slow her suddenly racing pulse, and wishing that she could freeze time while she was at it. There was something absolutely perfect about this.

 _You've thought that about_ _ **everything**_ _today,_ she reminded herself. That thought only made her smile grow wider, because it was true. She decided that this thought needed to be shared. "Today was perfect," she said without taking her eyes off of the shades of pink in the sky. Since she was leaning against his cheek, she could feel the muscles shift in his jaw as he smiled at her assessment.

"It certainly was," Kurt agreed, leaning into her a little more, then added, "Who knew that the beach could be this much fun?"

"Not me," Jane replied slowly. There was a tone that Kurt didn't like mixed in with the happy lilt of her voice just then. It was the one that told him that she'd taken the question a little more literally than he'd meant it, and had chosen to dwell on the fact that no, she hadn't known that she liked the beach.

The fact that "who knew" was an expression was something that she knew, however, she simply couldn't bite her tongue fast enough to stop the slightly self-pitying response. No, she certainly hadn't known. Even two years later, there were still plenty of things that she didn't know about herself.

"Hey," he said pointedly, glancing over to be sure he'd pulled her attention back from her thoughts, "I've been to the beach lots of times, and _I_ never knew it could be this much fun, either. Okay?" _In other words_ , he thought, _it's not just you. You don't have to make yourself feel bad, feel separate. I'm right here with you_. He'd leaned back slightly to look at her as directly as he could, considering that he was actually behind her.

Her full, sincere smile returned, and she nodded ever so slightly. Satisfied, he leaned his head back against hers, where it had been, as they continued to watch the sun sink lower, behind the trees and assorted low buildings that lined the western sky from where they stood.

"That was a really good idea," she told him once the sun was gone, and only a faint color remained in the darkening sky. The wind was picking up, or maybe they were simply noticing it more than they had earlier because they were up higher, and because the sun was now gone. Still, the day had been swelteringly warm and the current temperature remained comfortable, even without the help of the sun. This wasn't exactly a cold climate, after all.

There was a gurgling noise, which they both heard loud and clear in the stillness, and it made them laugh. "Was that your stomach, or mine?" Jane asked him, turning around to put her back to the cement now that the sun was gone. Kurt hadn't moved, and because he'd been standing very close behind her, he was now standing very close in front of her. He felt her lean unsurely against the partial wall behind her, which came up to the middle of her back, and he put his hands gently behind her back to steady her. This made her smile even more, and for the millionth time that day, she felt herself blushing.

"I don't know," he replied, "but I think it means we need to go find some dinner."

She nodded in agreement. "It must be pretty late by now," she observed, "since the sun has already gone down." Her smile faltered just a little, as if something had occurred to her that she was doing her best not to think about.

"Plenty of weekend left," he replied without missing a beat. She just stared at him then, surprised, which told him that once again, he'd done his "trick" of reading her mind. There wasn't much to the trick, after all, since somehow he could just sense a lot of the things that bothered her. "Now let's go get something to eat." However, he stood there, right in front of her, staring into her eyes in the gathering darkness around them, the shadows on their faces growing longer. The lights of the parking garage seemed increasingly dimmer against the darkness without the sun.

Neither of them moved for a full minute. In fact, she wasn't sure that either of them were even _breathing_.

Suddenly, they were unexpectedly _so_ close together… and somehow seemed to be frozen, staring intensely into each other's eyes. There was another gurgling sound from one of their stomachs – it was still too hard to say which one it had been, since they were both feeling hungry, and standing so close together – and they both relaxed, smiling widely at the situation. The spell that had been holding their eyes on each other was broken, and he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Come on," he said, taking a step back and picking up the green bag, which he'd set on the ground by their feet, then reaching for her hand. "Before our stomachs start devouring themselves." Shaking her head at the strange image, Jane allowed him to tug her back towards the elevator, which they waited patiently for, once again hearing it slowly make its way to them. This time, night having fallen, other people, dressed not for the beach but for an evening out, joined them in the elevator as it made its way down, stopping at each floor. Having been the first ones in, they were once again pressed against the back wall, and were the last ones to get out.

They stopped, looking around to get their bearings as they walked back out onto the sidewalk, and Kurt turned toward her. "What do you feel like eating?" he asked. "There seems to be a lot of pizza around here, and… a lot of seafood places… Which makes sense, at the beach." He glanced around, then looked down at the list of restaurants that he'd pulled up on his phone. "We'll probably end up waiting, no matter where we go," he added apologetically.

"No problem," she replied, squeezing his hand. Honestly, what difference would waiting make? She was a little hungry, but she was also with Kurt, with the rest of the weekend stretching before them. As much as she knew the weekend wouldn't last forever, at that moment she felt like they had all the time in the world to devote to finding something for dinner.

"Except for that whole hunger thing, of course," he laughed.

"Food is overrated," she said, curling herself into his arm. "Anything is fine."

"Sarah was telling me about this place by the Neptune Statue…" he said, trying to remember what his sister had told him. "Something about fire pits in the center ofthe tables outside…" Jane tilted her head slightly, trying to imagine that.

"Really?" she asked, intrigued by the idea.

Looking up at the street sign, he said, "It's not too far, do you want to walk down there and check it out?"

"Sure," she shrugged. "Anywhere's good… As long as you're going to be there," she said honestly, realizing only afterwards exactly how it had sounded… like a silly young girl with her first, hopeless crush. Which, in a way, was true. She felt herself blushing, and hoped that it was dark enough that he didn't notice, even though that seemed doubtful. The streetlights and lights from the shops along Atlantic were fairly bright. _Damn_ , she thought, looking away.

They'd been standing facing each other, Jane leaning slightly into his arm at one point. Now she was turned away, looking across the street, avoiding his eyes. She clearly hadn't meant to say what she'd just said, at least not quite that way… He watched her as she nervously waited for him to change the subject, and yet again, he was mesmerized by her. As he squeezed her hand once again, she looked up at him shyly.

 _You should know by now_ , she reminded herself, _that he feels it too_.

He looked at her a second longer before simply saying, "Well, then let's go," as they headed off down the sidewalk toward the restaurant that Sarah had told him about. When they found the restaurant, they saw that there were indeed fire pits in the middle of several of the tables on the patio, and those fire pits now glowed brightly, the flames dancing in the darkness. The restaurant was called Catch 31, and it was, unsurprisingly from its name and location in the space between Atlantic Avenue and the boardwalk, a seafood restaurant.

They went inside and were told that there would be "a little bit of a wait," especially if they were set on getting one of the few fire pit tables. They settled on a bench by the door, not really caring just how long "a little bit" would be. Kurt had never in his life felt so perfectly content to wait for a table. After all, his left arm was stretched out behind Jane's shoulders, and she was leaning into him, her head on _his_ shoulder. Besides being content, he _was_ also hungry, and was also beginning to feel a little tired. After all, they'd had a jam-packed day, and somehow it was already after 8:00 pm.

A hostess finally came to get them, leading them along a winding path between table lit by dim overhead lighting and tea lights in small votives on the tables, to a door at the far end that led back outside to the patio. From there, they wound between occupied tables to the edge of the patio, where a large round table made of smooth marble was hollowed out in the center, and flames jumped from it in the wind, which seemed to have picked up while they'd been inside.

They thanked the hostess and sat down, sliding along the rounded wooden bench and then smiling as the young brunette put menus down in front of them, telling them that their waitress would be right with them. They took advantage of the fact that they were on a bench and not in chairs, sitting without any space between them, their legs touching, as they both opened their menus. Their waitress, a blonde with a wide smile and a heavy southern accent, brought them glasses of water and then disappeared again.

Jane's menu was open, but she found it hard to concentrate on it. Between Kurt beside her and the fire in front of her… there were several major distractions. She only realized that she'd been staring into the fire when she felt Kurt elbowing her gently in the side. Smiling and knowing she'd been caught, she glanced up at him. "You have to actually _look_ at the menu, not just hold it, you know," he reminded her in amusement.

"You're so _bossy_ ," she told him, grinning, but looked down at her menu nonetheless.

They spent the next few minutes quietly considering the options on the menu, and Jane managed not to look back up at the flames until she'd decided on her order, a combination plate called '31's Mixed Grill,' containing Mahi Mahi, shrimp, oysters, a crab cake and succotash. Glad to have such an important detail finalized, she looked out at the people lazily strolling by in pairs and groups, all enjoying the summer night. Leaning a little closer to Kurt, she sighed contentedly.

He looked down at her and smiled, then asked, "Did you decide on something?"

"Yes," she said proudly. "The Mixed Grill. You?"

He nodded in approval, the fact that she'd chosen the dish that would allow her to sample quite a few different dishes not lost on him. "I was thinking of getting the Lobster Tail," he said off-handedly. "Because if you haven't tried it, you should."

"You wanted to get it just so I can try it?" she repeated in surprise.

"Well, and also because lobster is delicious, so I'll enjoy it," he replied with a chuckle. "It's not _all_ for you." She pretended to scoff at him, but couldn't keep a straight face. "And I was also thinking of appetizers," he added. "Calamari, and… Virginia Beach Disco Fries. Because how can you _not_ order something called Disco Fries?" She chuckled, nodding.

"I can't argue with your logic," she replied, as they both closed their menus. The wind had continued to pick up as they'd sat there, and if their menus hadn't been enclosed in heavy book-style bindings, they may have blown away. The air was still warm and increasingly humid, and Kurt noticed as he looked up that no stars were visible. When had the clouds rolled in, anyway?

Their waitress took their orders and their menus and then left them again, and Jane found herself once again mesmerized by the flames in the center of their table. "It's probably a good thing I don't have one of these fire pit tables back at home," she mused aloud.

"For any reason other than the obvious – that you'd set the table and the house on fire?" he joked. She pushed his arm with her shoulder playfully in reply.

"Very funny," she said, pretending to be offended. "No, because I wouldn't get anything done, I'd be staring at the fire all the time."

"It's like our very own campfire," Kurt said, his eyes shifting from her to the flames.

Only after the words were out did he think realize the connection those words created with his past. He had a sudden flash of memories – of camping with his father, Sarah, and Taylor, sitting by the campfire. And that same snippit of memory from inside the tent, the night it had stormed so badly, when Taylor had been scared. She'd been leaning against him and he'd had his arm around her protectively, telling her that he wouldn't let anything happen to her.

A chill ran through him. He had promised himself that he wouldn't revisit that memory, no matter how bittersweet it was. He shook his head in an attempt to reset his thoughts, but not before Jane's eyes met his, and he knew that she'd noticed exactly how far away he seemed to have gone in those few seconds.

When he said those six words, she knew exactly what it would remind him of, what it would do to him, and she cringed slightly inside. His right hand, which was holding her left, clenched more tightly, and his left hand, which was sitting on the table in front of him, clenched into a fist. Without hesitation, she turned on the bench so that she was facing him, their hands still joined, and then reached for his left hand with her right, tugging it towards her, and in turn shifting _him_ towards her in the process – no easy feat. He was trying to stare into the fire, but after several tries she succeeded in turning him in her direction instead.

His eyes were down, focused on her left leg, which she'd pulled up onto the bench between them in order to turn her body towards him, and his every muscle seemed tense. She decided to try something that he seemed to do so often for her, and ran her thumbs back and forth across the backs of his hands, over and over, watching him carefully. The tension that had appeared in his face, almost out of nowhere, slowly dissipated, and more slowly, his suddenly rapid breathing returned to normal. When he looked up at her, his eyes were filled with sorrow that hadn't been there a few minutes before. She smiled sadly at him.

"I know," she whispered simply.

He nodded, inhaling an unsteady breath. There was nothing that could be done to change the past. Besides, changing the past would have meant changing the present, and as deep as his regrets ran, he didn't wish not to be where he was now. The two of them had been over this train of thought so many times, both independently and together, and it was understood by now.

It had never been a choice he'd gotten to make – Taylor or Jane. For a while when they'd thought – no, _wanted to believe_ – that she was Taylor, he'd thought he had both of them again… but the reality that he hadn't, while cruel, in the end didn't change the fact that his connection with Jane was stronger than anything else. It was strong enough to stand up to the lies they'd told each other, to everything that had happened between them.

They were on the patio of a crowded restaurant, with tourists milling by just on the other side of the low stone wall that ran behind the bench on which they sat. And yet, somehow they tuned out the rest of it and heard only the crackle of the fire, and saw only each other. After a few seconds of looking at her, feeling the familiar heartbreak, he leaned forward towards her without a second thought, until his head rested on her right shoulder. His breath was warm on her neck as he took one shaky breath after another.

She almost buckled under the sudden extra weight against her, but she rebounded quickly, steadying herself and then letting go of his hands to bring hers up, her right hand against his cheek and her left on the back of his neck. "Sssshhhh," she whispered in his ear, for lack of anything better to say. There was nothing to say, after all, nothing she could do to make it any better except what she was doing.

His hands had shifted slightly when she'd let go of them, and they now rested gently on her knees between them, the ends of his fingers curled under against her skin. She turned her face to the right slightly, kissing the side of his face lightly somewhere between his temple and his cheek, then leaning her head against his.

It was only another minute before he became conscious of where they were, and while he didn't _care_ , per se, he lifted his head off of her shoulder more quickly than he would have liked. She was watching him carefully with a sad smile, her hands falling back down as he leaned back, and finding his hands once again. She wanted to say something, anything really, that would help… but words failed her. Even "It's okay," or "I'm here," fell far short. After all, it _wasn't_ okay, and nothing either of them could do would make it okay. As for the fact that she was there… well, she didn't even want to point that out, because of course, when it came down to it, she was there because Taylor wasn't. It was that simple, even though it was anything _but_ simple.

Besides, if there was one thing that she knew, it was that _he_ knew she was there for him.

The waitress reappeared then with their appetizers, and they were glad for the distraction. She squeezed his hands one more time, then let go and turned toward the table again, scooting back to where she'd been sitting, close enough that their legs were touching.

He looked at the food, and suddenly didn't feel hungry. Jane had taken care of thanking the waitress, while he hadn't even looked up. He wasn't happy with himself, but he hadn't been able to help it. She reached her fork into the plate of calamari, dipping it into the red sauce carefully before putting it in her mouth. She was fairly sure she had tried this before, and she smiled when she realized that it was indeed a familiar taste.

Looking over at Kurt with concern, she saw him staring forward, still looking slightly dazed. She laid her fork back down, turning towards him and leaning against the table, putting her left hand over his right on the bench between them.

"Have something to eat," she told him gently, knowing that it wouldn't fix what was hurting him, but that he needed it nonetheless. All they could do was go on.

In his head, he fought an old battle, but one that had changed over the years. A year ago, the wound had been deeper and more painful maybe than even the original, but the past year had seen him come closer to closure than he'd ever been. He wasn't there yet, but now that he finally had answers, it was a little easier to move on. He took a deep breath, staring into the fire. The flames were hypnotic, and as much as it had been the flames that had set off his memory, it was the flames that now calmed him again. He looked back at Jane slowly, seeing the concern in her eyes, and smiled, albeit weakly.

"Try this," she told him, indicating the food in front of them, reluctantly removing her hand from his to let him pick up his fork. He inhaled the scent, suddenly realizing once again that he _was_ hungry after all. They went back and forth between eating the calamari and the fries, glancing at each other and smiling but not speaking for the next few minutes, focused on the food, which was delicious. Before they knew it, the plates were empty, and they leaned back slightly, relaxing.

There was a slight rumbling in the distance, and the wind was now blowing harder. They looked up toward the dark sky, which was completely obscured by clouds. "Is it supposed to rain tonight?" she asked, wondering if they were about to be caught in a storm.

He frowned, taking out his phone to check his weather app. "Well, when I checked the weather yesterday, it didn't say anything about rain all weekend. Now…" he paused, waiting for it to load, and then looked at his screen in surprised. "Wow," he said, as she leaned over his shoulder to see what had surprised him. "Now it says there's a ninety percent chance of rain tonight. It should be clear by morning, but…" he looked up in the direction he thought the thunder had come from. "Well, we may be lucky and finish eating before it rains… or, we may not."

Jane's mouth curved into a smile. "As far as the risks we've taken along the way, I'd say that one's pretty minimal," she replied. Kurt smiled, because Jane had a point. The worst thing that was likely to happen was that they'd get wet. That was a risk he was okay with taking.

"I think we can probably take that chance," he nodded in agreement.

They watched the crowds of tourists scurry along, some of them peering nervously at the sky, others looking oblivious. By the time their food arrived, the wind was making the fire in the middle of their table dance almost frantically. "Do you think we'll get to finish before it rains?" Jane asked curiously. The winds certainly had pushed the clouds in quickly. The gorgeous clear weather they'd had at sunset was now a distance memory.

"I don't know," Kurt replied. "But I have a feeling it's going to be close." He winked at her, grinning, now looking more like himself again. Jane smiled back at him, thankful that his earlier thoughts of Taylor seemed to have passed. They weren't _afraid_ that they wouldn't finish before it rained, of course, having been in actual danger many, many times before, however, they did find themselves eating a little faster than they otherwise might have.

They'd just walked out the front door of the restaurant when they felt a few small raindrops bounce off their bare skin. "So, what now?" he asked. "Do you want to get ice cream or something?"

"No way," she said, her eyes growing wider, "I'm _stuffed_. But in the best way possible."

He chuckled at her, securing his phone inside an interior pocket of their new beach bag which looked like it might be slightly more water resistant than the rest of it. It certainly had a better chance inside the pocket not being inside the bag at all. He zipped the bag securely at the top, figuring he'd increase his chances of his phone remaining dry, even if it did rain on them.

He put his hand lightly on the small of her back as they turned the corner, walking in silent agreement back up towards the boardwalk. It was past nine o'clock, and there were still lots of people out and about – though fewer than there would have been if not for the impending rain. They joined the crowds wandering down the wide path of the boardwalk, glancing at the darkened beach, where waves crashed noisily, stirred up by the storm that was blowing in. It was like a whole different place than where they'd spent the day.

The wind whipped Jane's hair wildly around her head, despite her best efforts to tuck it behind her ears again and again. They wandered over to the railing that overlooked the sand, and she turned around to lean against it, looking at him. They both laughed as her hair continued to be blown in her face, almost no matter what she tried. It was funny, the way her hair was blowing as if she was inside a tornado, but at the same time it was annoying, especially when she couldn't get it to stop.

Finally, he set the bag down between their feet and raised his hands to her face, threading his fingers through her hair by her temples and finally securing it as it continued to try to blow wildly. Suddenly, she could see again.

"Oh, that's _so_ much better," she sighed. "Just stay right there, just like that, until the wind dies down." She leaned into his hands slightly, enjoying the slight scalp massage he was giving her by moving his fingers gently. At that moment, the slow patter of raindrops suddenly became a steady pounding, as if someone had turned the water on a faucet to a much higher setting.

They looked at each other, somewhere between amusement and _here we go_ , but made no move to abandon the spot where they stood. The crowd around them, on the other hand, began scrambling toward the buildings in vain. There wasn't anywhere nearly enough shelter along the boardwalk to hold the number of people who were currently out in the open, and many of them began dashing between the hotels, away from the boardwalk and towards the shops and restaurants along Pacific Avenue. Jane and Kurt looked around at the quickly emptying boardwalk in amusement, then at each other, shrugging.

"Wimps," Kurt mumbled, chuckling to himself.

The rain that had sent the rest of the tourists running was quickly soaking into their clothes, splashing them in the face and rolling down their bare skin as the size of the rain drops increased. He pushed her hair back again her scalp, and now that the water was weighing it down, it no longer blew in her face. Instead, it now stayed where he put it. He slowly removed his hands from her hair, stopping to tuck the front strands behind her ears before withdrawing completely. She immediately missed the contact, and looked up at him in an exaggerated pout.

He couldn't help but sputter with laughter at the face she was making, running his hands slowly from her shoulders, down her arms, stopping at her elbows, because her arms were folded across the front of her to match her exaggerated pout. Her t-shirt was already soaking wet and sticking to her, he couldn't help but notice. Of course, she was still wearing her bathing suit underneath, so she was arguably still more covered than she had been during the day on the beach.

Looking at him just then, feeling like an idiot for standing there letting herself get soaking wet, and yet not caring even a little bit, she couldn't hold her smile in any longer. He took half a step closer to her, moving his hands tentatively across the short distance from her elbows to her waist, as if he was concerned that he thought she might try to wiggle away. In response, she slowly unfolded her arms, lifting them to rest on his shoulders, her fingers lacing together across the back of his neck. Like him, she did it very loosely, as if she thought that _he_ might try to break free from her grasp at any minute. Somehow, after as many times as they'd come so close to each other that day, there was a new degree of uncertainty. Maybe there was something about standing there in the rain that made things different.

 _You're far less exposed than you were for half the day_ , Jane told herself, _and there's almost no one around. So why does this feel so much more…?_ She didn't even know the word for whatever she was feeling just then. The main component seemed to be nervous excitement, but it was unlike any of the other times she'd felt that particular emotion.

Despite the fact that they were now pretty much soaking wet, it wasn't physically uncomfortable. The air was still warm, which made all of the difference. In fact, Jane had forgotten pretty quickly about the rain, except when it hit her in the eyes. She'd been extremely focused on staring into Kurt's eyes. "I think we're the only ones crazy enough to stand out here and get soaking wet," Jane observed as the silence wore on between them. When they looked around, suddenly, it did seem as though they were the only ones who hadn't at least attempted to seek shelter from the rain.

Kurt shrugged, making the face he made sometimes when he was joking, that was almost a smile but more of a squeezing his lips together. "That's fine with me," he said, as his face inched even closer to hers. She had to remind herself to breathe just then, and she wondered, not for the first time that day, if he was going to kiss her.

"For some reason," he said without taking his eyes off of her, "there's a cliché about people kissing in the rain." He watched her eyes widen slightly, and smiled genuinely, trying to reassure her. His hands wound around her back, moving back and forth slowly across her wet shirt. "It seems to be a thing they do a lot in movies… or so living with Sarah has taught me," he said with a chuckle.

Her insides were doing flip flops, but she was interested by the fact that he had brought it up as a topic of conversation, instead of just simply kissing her. She smiled curiously, then asked, "That's not your thing? The hopeless romantic?"

He considered the question for a minute, then replied, "I think in the romantic department I'm just hopeless," feeling clever for changing her words to change the meaning, while also feeling that it very much applied to him. At least one person he knew would likely willingly back up that statement, too, he was fairly certain.

She scoffed quietly, rubbing her thumbs gently against the sides of his neck and watching him close his eyes for a second in response before looking back up at her. The look in his eyes was intense, as it so often was when he looked at her. It was all there, every bit of the feeling that had been bouncing back and forth between them for nearly as long as they'd known each other, and maybe even more. That same intensity was mirrored in her own eyes as she looked back at him.

"The last thing in the world you are is hopeless," she told him quietly. He leaned down slightly until their foreheads touched, straining to look into her eyes despite the difficult angle.

"Only with you, Jane," he said quietly, barely louder than the drum of the rain around them.

The smile on her face was an involuntary reaction, and she simultaneously felt her heart squeeze a little bit. Her feelings for him had always run deep, but she continued to be surprised that she could possibly feel more for him than she had before. And yet somehow, it kept happening.

She was still dizzy from their proximity and from the sweetness of his words when he began to slowly close the small remaining distance between their faces. His nose brushed against hers gently, holding there for several seconds before moving again. It had obviously _not_ been an accident, but simply another small, intimate gesture that made her catch her breath. Before she had time to form a coherent thought, as overloaded as her senses were at that moment, he had shifted slightly, finally finding her lips with his.

It wasn't the first time they had kissed, of course. There had been two others, which at the time had been infinitely special and full of emotion… over the past year she had revisited them in her mind more than a few times. And yet, this time felt like more than both of those two put together. So much more had happened between them in the past year, both good and bad. Even just that _day_ alone, so much had brought them closer. It was hard to know how to feel – not, of course, that she could even manage to think when he was kissing her.

Her arms had wound more tightly around his neck as they had moved closer together, as if she'd been afraid that he'd change his mind and back away. Suddenly, she felt his hands on the sides of her face, his thumbs on her cheeks while the rest of his fingers pushed gently into her hair. She had to stop for half a second to catch her breath, beaming with happiness as she leaned her forehead against the bridge of his nose for only a few seconds before reconnecting her lips with his, as if drawn by a magnetic force that was both powerful and at the same time more gentle than she would have believed possible.

Finally, when they'd lost track of time and run out of air, they pulled their faces back enough to look into each other's eyes, neither of them knowing quite what to expect. He shook his head in amazement, kissing her forehead softly and letting his hands fall from her face, wandering slowly down her back so that he could pull her to him tightly. Meanwhile, around them, the rain pounded down even harder than ever. They'd stopped noticing it a while ago, and were long since completely soaked.

At some point, she realized that he'd positioned himself so that he could once again speak almost directly into her ear, which made it easier to hear him over the noise of the rain around them. "I guess there's a reason why it's a cliché," she heard him say, and chuckled slightly against him, nodding just a little against his neck, where she'd tucked her head. "Do you want to head back?" he asked her.

Heading back would mean, of course, that they would have to move from where they were currently curled against each other. As much as it might have seemed strange to just about _anyone_ else, since they _were_ standing there soaking wet, there was simply no place in the world where she'd rather be just then. Second, going back to the house would mean that they were no longer _alone_. She wasn't sure what time it was, but when they'd left the restaurant it hadn't been too much past 9:00, so there was no guarantee that Sarah, and possibly even Sawyer, wouldn't still be awake. As much as she loved his sister and nephew, she was selfishly enjoying it being just the two of them – at that moment, they may easily have been the only two people on the entire 40 block long boardwalk – though the presence of the tourists around them hadn't mattered much to her. She simply wasn't ready to have to share him with anyone else just yet.

And then, of course, there was always the sleeping arrangement. They'd been beyond tired the previous night when they'd gone to bed, too tired to even care about anything except lying down and closing their eyes. Now, however, after the way they'd woken up that morning, after all of their flirting all day long, and especially after that _kiss_ … it felt… more complicated.

She knew that she was overthinking it, as she tended to do, and she knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Kurt Weller's intentions towards her were nothing but the most honest. She trusted him with her _life_ , after all, and he'd proven himself to be more than worthy of that trust even before they'd arrived at the beach. Then there was all the sweetness he'd showed her that day...

Still, she couldn't help but be slight anxious, though she knew that it was silly. Ridiculous, even. Therefore, she was happy to put off the situation and the thoughts that went with it a little longer, if possible.

She shook her head slightly against him in response to his question, and felt his chest rumble slightly as he chuckled. He'd expected as much. Truth be told, he didn't want to go back either, he'd just wanted to make sure that they were in agreement. They couldn't stand in the rain all night, of course, but they weren't even close to that point. Despite the fact that they had lost all track of time and the world around them in general, it hadn't actually been _that_ long that they'd been standing there. As long as it was pouring down rain, he wasn't going to risk taking out his phone to check the time, either, so they would just have to go without knowing what time it was until the rain let up. Of course, it didn't actually matter to either of them how much time had passed. There was nowhere else they wanted to be, after all.

She felt as though she should say something, tell him how happy she was… but found that any words she could think of were insufficient to describe how she felt. Instead, she pressed her face into his neck, feeling him pull her tighter as well, and knew that it was understood.

They continued to stand there, murmuring something to each other now and then, but just staring at each other for the most part, as the rain continued to beat down on them. It had come down torrentially for a time, as if they in the middle of a monsoon, and then lessened enough to be considered simply raining hard for a while. After that, it had slowed to a light sprinkle, then picked up yet again for a while before slowly tapering off to a slow but even rhythm. They hadn't really noticed, because once they were soaking wet, they couldn't absorb any more water anyway.

Finally, Jane began to feel sleepy, and she wondered, just out of curiosity, just how long it had been that they'd been standing there. She leaned back enough to look up at him, smiling as the rain pelted her gently in the face, which made her laugh and sputter slightly.

Without a second thought, he leaned down and kissed her again, just as sweetly as the previous time, and she felt the now familiar sensation of soaring. She smiled into the kiss, unable to help herself, and then stared up at him when he leaned back to look at her.

He could see that she was getting tired. As happy as she looked, her eyelids were already drooping slightly, and he was fairly sure that it wasn't a product of kissing her.

 _Kissing her_. He said the words again in his head in awe, and a smile spread across his face without his even realizing it.

"You look tired," he told her. "We should probably go back soon."

As much as she hated to admit it, she _was_ starting to feel tired. It had, after all, been an extremely long day, after not all that much sleep the night before. She didn't like the idea of the day ending, however, even though they had another full day at the beach, plus part of a second one, ahead of them. And once they got back to the beach house…

She nodded, tensing slightly, her mouth drawing into a straight line. He smiled at her, shaking his head, then lifted his hands back up to her hair, now even wetter than it had been before. Pushing the front sections by her temples back again, as he had done earlier, he kissed her on the forehead slowly before leaning back to look in her eyes. "Come on," he whispered above the sound of the rain, "time to go."


	10. Until It Is

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: Warning: If the previous chapter (or any of the ones before that, actually) didn't kill you with cuteness, this one just might._

He lowered his hands from her face slowly, moving them down to her upper arms, skimming along her wet skin past her elbows until he reached her hands, which were still wrapped around his neck. He managed to disentangle her hands from behind him, taking a step back toward the empty boardwalk and tugging at her hands for her to follow. She let go of one of his hands to pick up the beach bag that they'd left at their feet, putting it over her shoulder, and allowed him to pull her slowly away from the railing along the beach. The rain continued steadily as they walked, but it didn't matter. As a matter of fact, she liked the rain a lot more all of a sudden.

Their pace was slow but steady as they walked down the deserted boardwalk. They'd been between 30th and 31st Streets when they'd started, so they still had about five blocks to go before their turn. Before they'd even reached 30th Street, he'd dropped her hand and put his right arm around her shoulders to pull her closer as they walked, her left arm automatically moving across his lower back. Though he was taller, they were close enough in height that with a little concentration, they could synchronize their steps.

Neither of them were in any rush to get back to the house, and yet at the same time, at least for Jane, thanks to her swirling thoughts, it seemed as though they reached the house in an instant. They didn't have the key, of course, so they hoped that Sarah had left the door unlocked for them. Jane stopped behind Kurt as he stepped up to the door and tried the knob, which opened easily with only the tiniest squeak.

Turning back over his shoulder, he whispered, "Let me see if that bag of towels is still there, and I'll put a few down on the floor so we can drip onto them." She nodded, stepping into the doorway behind him as he walked quickly to the towels, which were still sitting in the bag on the floor where they'd left them earlier. He pulled a few of them out and spread them on the kitchen floor. As soon as he'd done that, she stepped inside and onto one of the towels, immediately feeling cold as the air conditioned air hit her soaking wet skin.

He handed her a towel, which she wrapped around herself. It didn't seem to help very much, however, and she shivered as she tried to keep it moving over her.

Kurt had left his sandals on the towel beside him, squeezed as much of the water out of his bathing suit as he could and removed his soaking wet t-shirt, leaving it sitting on the towel by his sandals for the moment. He was as dry as he was going to get while standing in the kitchen. He looked over at Jane, who was shivering, attempting to dry herself off while her clothing continued to drip. She'd gotten as far as taking off her sandals. After rubbing his towel over his head quickly to get the excess water out of his short hair, he draped the damp towel over his shoulders, leaving it hanging down on either side in the front, and stepped over towards her.

"Let me hold the towel, and you get your wet clothes off," he said quietly, winking at her because he knew _exactly_ how it sounded.

She raised her eyebrows at him, shaking her head with a chuckle. "This is the second time today that you've told me to take my clothes off," she said quietly but evenly, before breaking into a grin. He couldn't help but laugh, because it was the truth, even though both times had been completely innocent. She managed to get her wet t-shirt over her head, despite how heavy it was with water and how much it was clinging to her, then unbuttoned her shorts and let them fall to the towel at her feet, stepping out of them. Now she was standing in her bikini once again, and even though he liked to look at her in it, he took pity on her as she shivered and handed the towel back to her. She wrapped it around herself once more, moving it as quickly as she could over her skin to try once again to dry herself off.

"It's freezing in here," she said, still shivering enough for him to notice.

"Why don't you go take a hot shower?" he suggested. "I'll clean up the floor." He looked back at the water they'd left on the floor when they'd come in. Despite how quickly they'd tried to get onto the towels, there was a small lake near the front door.

She nodded at his suggestion, thinking that it sounded good. "It seems funny to take a shower when I'm already about as wet as I can get," she replied, "but that sounds _so_ good right now." Flashing a smile, she didn't waste another second before she walked back down the hall toward the bedroom. A minute later, when she came back down the hall with her pajamas, she found Kurt just coming out of the bathroom and heard the shower already running.

"Just warming it up for you," he said, and started to move out of her way.

Surprised by the gesture, she was suddenly flooded with appreciation for him yet again, as she had been so many times that day. Laying her hand on his arm, she whispered, "Thank you." It was for being thoughtful enough to turn the water on for her, of course, but also so much more than that. She swore that it seemed like there hadn't been a second since they'd arrived at the beach that he hadn't been thinking about how to make her happy.

He noticed surprise on her face when he told her that he'd started the shower for her. _It wasn't a big deal,_ he thought. _I just turned on the water._ And yet from the look on her face, you'd think he'd given her the moon. He couldn't help but smile back at her then. She was soaking wet and freezing and in awe over something so small that it shouldn't even have been worth mentioning… and because of all of that, she was even more beautiful than she'd already been.

She felt herself blush a little bit from the way he was looking at her. It was the look she'd seen on his face so many other times, the one that said that she was the only person in the world he wanted to look at. Leaning forward, she kissed him gently, stopping to lean back and look up for his reaction after only a few seconds. This was, after all, still uncharted territory. Judging from the smile on his face, this was more than just an okay thing to do, and between his smile and his eyes, she found herself mesmerized by him for more than a few seconds.

"Take your shower and warm up," he told her, watching her shiver even though she seemed to have momentarily forgotten that she was cold, and stepping past her out of the bathroom. She nodded at him and traded places, stepping into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

Fifteen minutes later, when she stepped back out of the bathroom, she felt infinitely better. Noticing that he'd cleaned up the water from the kitchen floor and straightened their wet things, she walked down the hall to look for him in the bedroom.

He'd been lying on the bed, now wearing a dry t-shirt and his pajama bottoms, when she came in. The door squeaked slightly, which made him look up, and he couldn't help but smile at her. "Feel better?" he asked.

"Yes, _much better_ ," she said emphatically. "And the bathroom's all yours, if you wanted to take a shower."

"Nah, I'm okay," he replied. "But I will go brush my teeth." He stood up and walked across the room, not taking his eyes off of her until the very last second, when he finally left the room. As she heard him walk down the hall, she smiled to herself. There was just something about him… he had a way of making her feel like a better version of herself when he was around – maybe because she wasn't used to anyone believing in her as unconditionally as he did.

 _He loves you_ , the voice in her head added. She smiled to herself, shaking her head. He'd never said it, of course, it was just something she _felt_ … and she liked the feeling. Still, she knew that she needed to keep herself from getting _too_ carried away. Even though she _knew_ , there was some part of her brain that told her not to assume anything, even that, no matter how sure she was. Things between them had taken so many unexpected turns before, there was simply no way to be sure.

She unwound the towel that she'd wrapped around her hair, shaking it out and then rubbing the now damp cloth over her head one more time. Hanging the towel on the back of the chair, she pulled her brush through her hair then sat on the edge of the bed for a minute before scooting over slightly, so that she was sitting cross-legged toward the middle, on the side where she'd slept the previous night. It was also the side where she'd awoken to find Kurt curled behind her with his arm over her waist, she recalled. Suddenly, as tired as she was, she felt too awkward to lie down. Fidgeting with her hands in her lap, she heard his footsteps coming back down the hall and tried to force herself to calm down.

When he opened the door to the bedroom, he found her sitting on the bed, her legs crossed in front of her, looking slightly anxious. Closing the door quietly behind him and turning the 'lock' switch on the doorknob – which he didn't remember seeing the night before – he walked towards her, slowly, and sat down in front of her, his right leg bent in front of him and his left foot still on the floor. He didn't say anything, simply reached for her hands, and she finally stopped fidgeting and looked up at him.

He turned her hands over so he could rub his thumbs across the ink on the backs. "What's wrong?" he asked.

Smiling awkwardly, she shook her head quickly. "Nothing," she replied, but he knew better. He watched her smile disappear, the worried frown returning as she looked down at their hands.

"Do you want me to sleep on the couch?" he asked calmly. She looked up sharply, looking surprised and slightly panicked.

"What? _No_ , of course not," she said, stammering slightly.

He smiled back down at her calmly, adding, "It's okay if you do." But she just shook her head, her hands tightening around his.

"No, I… I mean… I'm not…" Looking frustrated with her inability to make the words make any sense, she took a deep breath and tried again. "With…" she hesitated to even say his name, especially at that moment, in that context – if Kurt was even able to follow what the context _was_ in her broken sentences… "With Oscar, I… I didn't know that… I shouldn't have just… I… And now… I don't want to…"

In her head, it seemed so much less complicated. What had happened with Oscar… well _of course_ this was different, but she'd promised herself that she would learn from her mistakes. And that meant having a better handle on her feelings before she did anything that would change any relationship so completely. Kissing was one thing… but beyond that…? If she slept with him… well, it wasn't something that could be taken back, after all. And if there was one relationship in the world that she did _not_ want to take the chance of losing, it was the one she had with Kurt – wherever it now stood.

She was sure this was supposed to be something someone ten years younger than her – or more – dealt with, but certainly not someone her age. It made her feel ridiculous, and that was _not_ helping her as she tried to calm down.

Her breathing was coming faster and faster, and by the end she looked like she was having trouble getting enough air while pushing the words out. Amazingly enough, he thought he actually _did_ understand what she was trying to say. After all, he'd had a guess before she'd started talking, which was why he'd asked if she wanted him to sleep on the couch.

"Hey," he said quietly, squeezing her hands and waiting until he had her attention. She took a few more deep breaths, until she was almost breathing normally again, and then finally looked up at him hesitantly. "Nothing has changed," he said simply, smiling at her with the same sincere smile as always.

He noticed that she looked surprised, and he knew he'd hit the nail on the head. Scooting forward slightly, a little closer to her, he lifted her right hand and pressed her palm over his heart, putting his left hand flat over it, then repeated the gesture with both of their other hands. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to. It was understood. The gesture spoke for itself.

Smiling and suddenly feeling overcome with a flood of emotions, she looked into his eyes, feeling her anxiety begin to abate. She'd gone too fast with Oscar, and she had come to regret it. As sure as she was that things were one hundred percent different with Kurt, she didn't want to have those kinds of regrets again, and certainly not about him.

He held their hands against his chest for a few minutes, watching her. She'd definitely gotten the message, and he watched the tension go out of her shoulders as she visibly relaxed.

"Okay?" he asked simply. It felt as though they'd had a complete heart to heart, and yet so far he'd uttered all of five words in response to not a single coherent sentence from her… despite this, they appeared to have understood each other perfectly. There was something simply amazing about that, just like there was something amazing about _her_.

Nodding her head, she was suddenly overcome with a wave of emotion. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Meanwhile, he lowered their hands, then let them go slowly. He stood up and walked toward the door, which confused her for a second, until she realized that he was simply turning off the light. Her eyes never left him as he walked back toward the far side of the bed, pulling back the covers so that he could crawl underneath, and then tugging at them where she was sitting to get her to do the same. "Come on," he said quietly, "it's late." She just nodded, looking down. Without a word, or another look at him, she scooted back toward her pillow and pulled the covers out from under her so she could do just that.

Ever so slowly, she shifted herself so that she was lying down on her back under the covers, staring at the ceiling. She could feel him watching her. After a minute, she turned her head to look at him, and saw him smiling at her with that same smile that she loved so much. Without even realizing it, she smiled back at him, turning onto her side so that she faced him, only about six inches separating them. Almost in slow motion, she watched as he brought his left hand up to her cheek, brushing his thumb back and forth before resting it here, his other fingers grazing her hairline.

Her eyes were locked on his, and with his hand on her cheek, she had to remind herself once again to keep breathing. _This simply cannot not be real_ , he mind kept arguing _._ And yet… it was.

And this time, before he could talk himself out of it, instead of getting bottlenecked inside him and being unable to bypass his brain, the words just tumbled out. "I love you, Jane." He stared into her eyes for a second, then added in a voice that was barely a whisper, but was all he could manage as he nearly choked on his own emotions, "More than anything."

He'd chosen those last three words carefully, for emphasis, recalling the emotional scene between them when she'd just returned from the CIA black site the previous summer. Back then, their relationship had been so broken it had seemed impossible that they would even be able to be friends. They'd both admitted to either flat out lies, or lies of omission, because both of them had wanted her to be Taylor Shaw – _more than anything_. For some reason, at least in his head, using those words now just felt like the right way to try to express a feeling that really couldn't be described.

She'd been smiling at him already, but he saw the split second when her smiled faltered, as her breath seemed to catch in her throat. It was as if she couldn't believe that he'd said it or that for some reason she hesitated to believe it. After her reaction to being told that she was beautiful, he figured that was probably to be expected, and he was determined to be sure that she knew just how sincerely he meant it. He had trouble believing that there had ever been a doubt. _Of course_ he loved her. Now, as she stared into his eyes, there was more than just the normal intensity that was always there between them. He saw something else, as well, but couldn't be sure what it was.

 _I love you, Jane_. She repeated his words in awe inside her head. _He loves me_.

 _See,_ the voice in her head prodded her gently. _You already knew… and you were right._

The other three words, _more than anything_ , took her back for just a second to that day the previous year… She felt a pain in her heart just thinking about it. When they'd been trying to fix things between them, despite the fact that everything felt permanently broken. She knew that his using those words wasn't a mistake or a coincidence. Though they took her back to a difficult time, they also brought with them a swell of emotion that made it that much more real.

Even just the words _I love you_ were powerful coming from him, but when he'd added _more than anything_ , the tug at her heart became a tight squeeze, wonderful and painful all at once.

The pained look on her face was gone in an instant, and he knew that she understood his choice of words. _Of course she did._ After all, they'd always been able to do the bulk of their communication without words. He moved his thumb across her cheek slowly, watching his words sink in, knowing that he'd momentarily overloaded her senses.

Those three words – or six words, actually – had been scary up until that moment. Saying them gave another person so much power, after all. Loss of control, understandably, considering her past, was something that terrified her… and yet suddenly, as she stared into his eyes, they simply weren't frightening anymore. After all, he was better to her than she was to herself. There was no worry about control, because he'd never tried to control her, despite what she'd thought a time or two in the beginning, only to take care of her. Suddenly, those words made more sense than anything else in the world.

"I love you, too," she whispered in return, surprising both of them, then added in a voice that was almost as choked as his had been, " _More than anything_."

Without a conscious thought, simply a compulsion to do so, he leaned forward and kissed her, slowly, as if he was purposely trying to savor it. Given the words they'd just uttered to each other and the night they'd already had, she wasn't quite sure where this was going, and while her veins were flooded with elation, she tensed enough for him to notice.

Sensing her sudden hesitation, he leaned back slowly, just enough to kiss her forehead, then leaned his forehead against hers. His left thumb still moved slowly across her cheek, as it had been doing for several minutes. Even through that slight contact with her cheek, he could feel her relax again, and he couldn't help but smile. There was, and had always been, so much emotion buried just below the surface in both of them, things that they somehow understood about the other in a way that seemed to be both impossible and simultaneously instinctual.

Without warning, she yawned. The lateness of the hour and the long, activity filled and emotional day were suddenly hitting her all at once. It was hard to believe it hadn't even quite been twenty-four hours since they'd arrived at the beach house, and the fact that their weekend wasn't even quite half over… well, she didn't feel like she could possibly deserve another day as wonderful as the one that she'd just had.

"I saw that," he whispered. "Time to go to sleep. It's been a long day." She just smiled, sighing heavily, not wanting either of them to move from the spots where they were, but knowing that it was inevitable. He felt the muscles in her cheek shift, and could make out a slight pout on her face in the dark. This expression only served to endear her to him more, if that was even possible.

"Get comfortable," he told her quietly, "and let's get some sleep. I'm not going anywhere… unless you want me to."

" _No_ ," she replied quickly, insistently, almost before the words has left his mouth. He couldn't help but grin at her.

"Okay," he said soothingly. "So…" He slowly took his hand off of her cheek, leaned back and looked at her, his eyes once again saying more than words could have. She immediately missed the contact and warmth of his hand, and she smiled back for a few seconds, still not wanting to move. However, she suddenly realized that she knew how she wanted to fall asleep – the same way she'd woken up that morning – which would require turning around.

He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to move, though he wasn't sure exactly how she was going to settle herself. All he knew was that she wasn't going to choose to fall asleep staring at him with space between them. That much seemed like a safe bet at this point.

The small amount of light in the room danced playfully in his eyes as she watched him, knowing that he was still waiting for her to move, but she was momentarily unable to look away from him. She could see how amused he was by her, and she felt herself blush slightly, yet again. "Okay, fine," she replied to the teasing that he hadn't even needed to utter out loud, sighing dramatically and finally turning over onto her right side, facing away from him. As she'd done so, she'd simultaneously moved herself closer to him, so that when she was finally still again, there was very little space between them.

"Comfy?" he asked with a sly smile, leaning his head as close to her shoulder as possible without actually touching her.

She made a face at him, knowing he was doing it on purpose. "Almost," she replied. "Just one thing missing."

"Oh?" he asked, not moving any closer to her. "And what's that?"

Tilting her head slightly back in his direction so that she could give him a playful scowl, she whispered, "Very funny."

He chuckled, obviously amused with himself, then scooted forward the last inch or so, until her back was pressed against his chest. "Better?" he asked, winding his left arm around her waist and leaning his forehead against the back of her head. His hand found and curled around the back of her hand, and needing him even closer, she pulled her hand up by her heart, tugging his along with it. He felt her sigh against him, inhaling slowly and then exhaling again, just as slowly, before she answered.

"Much," she said simply.

Smiling with absolute contentment, he leaned towards her ear. "That's all that matters to me," he whispered to her. "Good night, Jane," he added.

At that moment, everything she had been through in the past two years, absolutely every second of it – even the very worst, most painful things that she'd endured – it was all worth it, just to be where she was.

"Good night," she whispered, closing her eyes tiredly, and drifting off to sleep within seconds.

He both felt and heard her breathing change within a minute, and knew that she'd fallen asleep. As tired as he was, he felt so happily wired, at that moment he wasn't convinced that he'd ever sleep again. It was as though he was under the influence of some powerful substance, despite the fact that he, of course, hadn't taken anything.

 _That's love, for you_ , the voice in his head said.

He moved his thumb back and forth against the skin of Jane's hand, still in disbelief at how the day had gone. And then, just when he was convinced that he would never fall asleep… he did.

He woke up early, despite the fact that they'd gone to bed somewhere around midnight. The room was still dark, and the clock, which he had to lift his head to see because it sat on the bedside table on Jane's side of the bed, said that it was 4:45am. He'd seen this time of morning many times, but he hadn't liked any of them nearly this much. Before laying his head back down on the pillow, he glanced down at a sleeping Jane in front of him. For the thousandth time, he just looked at her, in awe that things had worked out the way they had after so much time. He'd honestly thought that they'd missed their chance long ago.

 _Sometimes, the timing just isn't right… until it is_ , he thought. Unable to contain the sleepy smile that had taken over his face as he felt his eyes droop once again, he leaned forward just enough to plant a soft kiss behind her left ear before settling back down behind her, leaning his forehead against her neck. He was asleep again in less than a minute. From his angle, of course, he couldn't see Jane smile in her sleep.

The sounds of morning gradually crept into Jane's conscious mind as she slowly woke up the next morning. As the sleepiness wore off, she became aware of more and more sounds that she wasn't accustomed to hearing in the morning, which only served to remind her that she wasn't at home, but somewhere far, far better. The call of sea gulls in the distance. The quiet clattering of dishes, and the occasional rise and fall of voices. And most of all, the gentle sound of breathing behind her. _Kurt's_ breathing, to be precise. She wanted to pinch herself, to be sure that it wasn't a dream, except that if it _was_ a dream, she had absolutely no desire to wake up.

She wanted to turn and look at him, but wasn't sure if she wanted to wake him up or not. On one hand, she loved his company. On the other hand, the longer he slept, the longer she could get away with lying there beside him, his arm around her… because as far as she was concerned, she wasn't going anywhere unless she had to. Why would she? Where else could be better than where she was at that moment?

Turning her head to look over her shoulder as slowly as she could, it took a painstakingly long time before she'd turned her head far enough to look at him. The side of his forehead rested against the back of her shoulder, which struck her as simply so adorable… just like pretty much everything about him did, of course. She wished that she could just lay there and stare at him, but she was unwilling to turn around and give up the chance to snuggle into him behind her, so she simply turned back around, leaning back against him and pulling his hand, which was still around hers, a little tighter toward her.

"Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere," she suddenly heard him whisper from behind her.

Since her back was pressed against his chest and his arm was pulled tightly around her, he felt the movement of her quiet laughter when he surprised her with the fact that she was awake. "What time is it, anyway?" he asked, still in a whisper, as if he was afraid of waking someone up. He could've looked, but it was more fun to use the excuse to get closer to her.

"6:30," she replied quietly, turning her head only part way, though now that she knew he was awake, fighting the competing desires to remain snuggled into him and to look at him. She turned her head enough that she could see him out of the corner of her eye and smiled. He leaned up just enough to kiss her on the cheek, which made her smile widen.

"Mmmmmm," he hummed behind her. "How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Better than any night I can remember," she replied in barely a whisper. She heard him chuckle slightly behind her.

"Me, too," he replied, kissing the top of the oil derrick tattoo at the base of her neck. "Now go back to sleep," he told her in a whisper. "How often do we get a chance to sleep in?"

"Funny, I'm not usually a sleeping in person," Jane said thoughtfully. "I didn't think you were, either."

"I am today," he replied, leaning into her just a little more.

"Sounds good to me," she replied, closing her eyes again, though she doubted she would fall asleep.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up once again, and the room was brightly lit by sunlight from the window. Kurt had pushed himself up, his head supported by his right hand and his elbow somewhere in his pillow. She looked up to find him just lying there, watching her with a smile on his face, as if he knew something that she didn't.

She blinked her eyes to clear the sleepiness from them and turned slightly onto her back, rotating her hand in his to interlace their fingers. "Good morning," he said softly. She looked up at him to meet his eyes and was surprised by the intensity of emotion that she saw in them. Blushing slightly, she smiled back at him.

"This is the best kind of dream ever," she murmured softly, and he chuckled, nodding, his thumb once again moving against the side of her hand.

"It is," he agreed, still speaking in a whisper, "because it's not a dream."

"Are you sure?" she asked. "Because I don't remember reality ever being this good."

"Well, then I'm accomplishing my goal," he replied contentedly. She chuckled again, shaking her head at him in disbelief and then leaning it towards him, settling again with the side of her head against his chest. Her eyes closed again, a contented smile on her face.

"What do you want to do about breakfast?" he asked.

"No," she said without opening her eyes.

He chuckled at her reply, which didn't even make sense. "That wasn't a yes or no question, you know that right?" he asked her.

She opened her eyes again and tried to hold back a smile, but failed. "I know," she replied. "I just want to stay right here. I'm not hungry." She knew that she was being slightly ridiculous, but she didn't care.

The smile on his face told her that he didn't hate the idea of staying where they were, and that he found her amusing. "We have another full day of fun at the beach," he reminded her. As he spoke, he brought their joined hands to her face so that he could brush his index finger against her cheek. "I think I promised Sawyer last week sometime that the next time we went to the beach, he could bury me in the sand. Obviously, I didn't expect to be at the beach again so soon… And since he didn't do it yesterday, it's probably going to be today, because I _don't_ think he's going to forget that…"

Chuckling at the image of Kurt buried in the sand, she looked at his quizzically. "Why did you promise him _that_?" she asked.

"Sarah found an old picture, from when we took Sawyer to the beach when he was only… I don't know… four or five? We buried him in the sand, and he _loved_ it. He was laughing his head off. But now he doesn't want to be buried in the sand, he wants to do the burying."

"So you told him he could bury _you_ in the sand," she mused. "That seems fair, I guess."

"Yeah," he laughed, "I don't know how he forgot about it yesterday, but I'm sure Sarah will remind him today. She thinks the whole idea is hilarious."

"Well, if she doesn't, I will," Jane said with a grin, looking a little _too_ excited about the idea for his taste. "I think I might help him out with that project."

"Not you, too," he pretended to groan.

"Why not?" she asked, "It sounds like fun."

He leaned down towards her, and she found that suddenly their noses were practically touching. Her heart beat faster as he said, "Hmmm, maybe I should go back to your idea of just staying here. If everyone's going to gang up on me…"

He held his distance, not getting any closer, and she knew that he was working hard to tease her. She looked past him at the ceiling and made a face as if she was thinking. "Hmmmm," she said, pretending that she was trying to make a decision, "now I can't decide which one I prefer."

"Oh, you need convincing?" he asked as she looked back at him with a playful grin.

"I might," she said softly, so that he wouldn't have even heard her if he hadn't been so close. He leaned down the last fraction of an inch that remained between them, touching her lips with his just barely enough to be considered a kiss, then pulled back up to where he'd been a moment before.

"So?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her.

"What if I say I'm not convinced yet?" she asked. "What happens then?"

"Are you not convinced yet?" he replied, eyeing her suspiciously, doing his best _serious FBI agent_ face.

"I didn't say that," she replied just as seriously, but with a glint in her eye, "I just want to know what happens if I'm not."

"I guess I have to try again," he said, his smile finally breaking through.

"Good luck," she whispered, staring into his eyes, "I'm pretty stubborn."

"You don't say," he replied, not taking his eyes off of her for a second. "I am, too."

Ten minutes later, they were once again staring at each other almost nose to nose, now slightly out of breath. "So?" he asked.

"I'm still helping Sawyer bury you in the sand," she whispered. "But that was a _really_ good attempt at convincing me otherwise."

"Mmmmm," he agreed, nodding his head. "I guess maybe I can deal with that."

Her mouth widened into a smile once again. She looked so happy, so beautiful, that he simply couldn't help but lean down and kiss her again. When he leaned back a minute later, she looked at him in surprise.

"What was that one for?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, grinning. "Who says I need a reason?"

"Certainly not me," she said, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

He leaned his forehead against hers, gently, then rubbed his nose against her nose for good measure, holding still for a minute, then whispered, "Now for the Pete's sake, woman, can we go have breakfast?"

She burst out laughing, having been caught completely off guard by his quick and comical transition. Once her laughter had died down, she brought her head up the inch or so necessary to kiss him back. "Of course," she replied, holding her face only millimeters from his. "How could I say no when you ask so… _nicely_?"

He let his lips graze hers one more time before he sat back, reluctantly. Even though _he_ was the one so set on breakfast, it was hard to tear himself away from her. Finally letting go of her hand, which he'd been holding for some time, he sat up and climbed out of bed, yawning and stretching as he walked slowly around to the other side, where Jane had yet to even sit up.

"What, you need more convincing?" he asked.

"Maybe I do," she said thoughtfully.

"Not until you get up," he said, a devilish smile on his face as he crossed him arms in front of him.

A look of pretend exasperation swept across her face, and she sighed heavily, pushing herself up and pulling the covers off of her faster than he expected. She stood up in front of him, much closer than what most people would consider a comfortable distance, her eyes trained on his.

He raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. "May I help you with something?" he asked her.

Looking at him nonchalantly, she replied, "Maybe… I think you wanted to convince me of something…"

"Did I?" he asked leaning closer to her but stopping just as close as he had when they'd been lying down, with their noses almost, but not quite, touching.

"I can't remember," she mused, looking around as if she was trying to remember. "Oh, well…" she started to lean back ever so slightly, which was when he leaned forward and kissed her again, just a little harder than before, putting his arms around her lower back.

"You don't really seem too set on breakfast for someone who claims to want breakfast so badly," she told him when they broke apart for air. He chuckled and shook his head at her. She was too much, but in the best possible way.

"So, are we going to eat, or what?" she asked him, trying not to laugh at the surprised look on his face.

"If that's what you want," he replied sweetly, pretending that it hadn't been _him_ trying to convince _her_ that they should have breakfast for at least the past half hour. He dropped his hands from her back, slowly, just the way he always did when forced to release her, but took one of her hands in his as they walked to the bedroom door.

At the door, he paused with one hand on the doorknob, turned around and looked at her intently. "One for the road," he said, raising him eyebrows playfully and leaning close to her. She smiled and shook her head at him, chuckling slightly.

"Hold still," he laughed, using her shaking her head as an excuse to bring his free hand up to her cheek, pretending that he needed it to keep her face still. He leaned down then and kissed her again, slowly, and then once more on her forehead before standing upright again. She grinned at him, leaning into his hand.

"What?" he asked with a smile.

"Nothing," she replied. "I just… really like the beach."

He chuckled at her, moving his thumb across her cheek once more. "I think I do, too," he replied, "Now, _stop distracting me_. It's time for breakfast." Unlocking the door, he dropped his hand from her cheek and opened the door slowly, as ready as he could be for Sarah's knowing looks. He didn't mind though, not really, because she had a lot to do with this new high he was on. If that brought with it a little teasing, then so be it.

 _A/N: Some of you had made your specific hopes for the second night at the beach house known, and I'm sorry if you are disappointed… but let's be realistic. This version of Jane and Kurt took 9 chapters to_ _ **kiss**_ _. In case you haven't yet noticed, the emotional connection they have is_ _ **far**_ _more important to me than the physical one. I hope you enjoyed this chapter nonetheless._


	11. Distracted

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

The first thing they noticed when Kurt opened the bedroom door and then stood aside so that Jane could go out into the hall first was that it was very quiet. Earlier there had been the faint sound of dishes clanking and Sarah and Sawyer's voices, but Jane and Kurt been so wrapped up in each other for the last little while that they'd failed to notice that those noises had stopped.

Jane stopped at the end of the hall, turning to look to her right where the wall turned right, as the hall opened into the small living area and the kitchen beyond it. The room was empty. Kurt stopped just behind her, his left hand coming to rest lightly on her hip and his head turning toward the kitchen from over her left shoulder.

"I guess they decided not to wait for us today," he said quietly, with a chuckle. "Which is okay with me." She smiled, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. His face was close beside hers, she noticed.

"I'll be right back," she said, leaning away, though reluctantly, because it meant that his hand dropped from her hip as she walked toward the bathroom to their left. When she emerged a few minutes later, he was standing exactly where she'd left him, looking at her.

"What're you doing?" she asked, surprised to find him in the same place, now leaning against the wall.

He shrugged. "Waiting for you," he said.

She walked toward him slowly, stopping less than a foot in front of him, but still far enough away that he had the urge to pull her closer, his hands finding hers as if acting of their own accord. "Dork," she whispered, and watched as his face changed to surprise and mock indignation.

"I was going for charming. Or at least cute," he growled slightly, bringing his face closer to hers but maintaining enough of a distance that there was still space between them. She laughed quietly, unable to keep up the serious façade any longer.

"And you are both of those things," she replied soothingly. "But… also a little dorky." The way she said it, it seemed like a good thing, even though he had his doubts. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about it.

"I think Sarah left us a note," Jane told him, changing the subject as she looked over his shoulder into the kitchen.

"You check on that, I'll be right back," Kurt said. Nodding, she let go of his hands and walked past him slowly to the table as he disappeared into the bathroom.

Sarah had, indeed, left them a note.

 _Sorry guys, Sawyer couldn't wait for you today. He woke me up at 6 wanting to get ready, and I couldn't hold him off long. I know you got in late last night, so I didn't think you'd appreciate getting up that early. And FYI, he called you 'super slow' and said he couldn't 'waste his beach time waiting' for you. He does, however, want you to meet us at the beach as soon as you can. Also, Kurt, he said, "prepare to be buried." No idea where he got that from. :) So don't stare at each other_ _ **too**_ _long… come meet us at the beach! Same place as yesterday._

 _Sarah_

Kurt had come back from the bathroom and walked up behind her while she'd stood, rereading Sarah's note and chuckling to herself over being called 'super slow' and Sawyer's apparent concern over wasting his beach time. Kurt once again leaned forward over her shoulder to read as well, his arms wrapping gently around her waist. He could easily have stood beside her instead, and for just a second she had a flashback to the black tie op they'd been on a long time ago, under cover as a husband and wife assassin team.

She'd been wearing a multi-million dollar diamond necklace that was their payment to Rich Dotcom for the stolen WitSec list. For a second, she felt the weight of it on her neck again. As long ago as it had been, the details of that day were imprinted into her memory, perhaps better than those of any other op.Kurt had stood behind her to unfasten the necklace, and then, instead of stepping around her to give it to Dotcom, he'd leaned forward, closer to her, to hand it to him from behind her.

At the time, she'd wondered if that was just part of the act. So much of what had happened between them that day had felt so real, at least to her – as if it was the most natural thing in the world for them to be so close to each other… and when she looked in his eyes, she'd sworn he'd felt something between them, too. Of course, that had been part of the op: to make a convincing husband and wife. They hadn't talked about it, of course, what had and hadn't been real. Then again, it wasn't only that day that he'd looked at her that way. No, he had looked at her that way _most_ days, she realized.

Today, on the other hand, she didn't have to wonder – when he leaned into her, she could enjoy it. It was _real_.

She had another fleeting thought then, about another necklace. The small gold circle with the tiny green stone in the middle, the one that Kurt had given her for what he'd thought at the time was her birthday. It had been _Taylor's_ birthday, they just hadn't yet known that she wasn't Taylor. It was the necklace that Emma Shaw had bought for her daughter.

 _Someone else's daughter, someone else's birthday._

She'd never found out what had happened to that necklace after she'd been arrested, tortured… she knew that it was silly to feel sad about losing it, because it hadn't ever been hers – not _really_ – but she still felt its absence on her neck once in a while, when she thought about it. That necklace had been so important to her, for several reasons. First, because Kurt had given it to her, and second, because it was one of the few things she had that wasn't courtesy of the FBI. Still, she told herself not for the first time, she wouldn't mourn a necklace. Especially not now, when she had something so much better. She pushed it from her thoughts, and concentrated on what she did have – Kurt, pressed close to her.

Now he leaned into her back, similarly to how he had at Rich Dotcom's party. He was reading Sarah's note, which she held in her hand, over her shoulder. They were wearing their pajamas, not a fancy dress and a tuxedo, and yet the feeling was almost the same. This time, however, was even better, because this time she knew that they weren't pretending to be anyone else. And though the black tie outfits had looked stunning on them both, there was something far more intimate about their being there together in their pajamas, still disheveled from sleep, even if their sharing the bed had been far more innocent than an outsider might have assumed.

"Alone for a little while longer, after all," he observed, tilting his head to lean against hers.

"Yes, but don't let me distract you from breakfast," she told him with a smile.

"But what if I want you to distract me?" he asked, pulling his arms around her a little more tightly.

"Then I guess _I'll_ be forced to cook, and then you'll _really_ be in trouble. Or so you like to tell me," she replied with a grin.

"Hmmm… you may have a point. Though you're getting better," he told her encouragingly.

She put Sarah's note back down on the table. Turning around to face him so that they were once again standing close together, she laid her hands against the cotton of his t-shirt on his chest and felt his heartbeat beneath her right hand. "How about," she began, "I'll work on the coffee and you see about the food situation? I can do coffee."

"You mean I can't just stand right here like this?" he moved his face closer to hers, so that their noses were once again just short of touching.

"Not if you want breakfast," she replied sweetly. "Which you keep saying you do… and yet… you're not really acting like it." There was laughter in her eyes, but she kept a straight face somehow.

"I do," he said, not taking his eyes off of her, "but it's hard to focus on anything except you."

She felt herself blush, and she moved forward the fraction of an inch to press her nose against his. "You're sweet," she told him quietly.

"It's the truth," he said, without any evidence of joking in his voice. He held still for a few seconds, continuing to look at her, then leaned forward for a quick kiss before pulling himself back, leaving a foot between them and unclasping his hands from behind her. "Obviously I'm going to have to learn how to focus on other things, however, or we're going to starve."

"And I think we can agree that we'd rather not do that," she replied.

"Yes," he nodded. "So let's get this breakfast thing over with." He stepped back from her slowly, toward the refrigerator, and she reached up to the cupboard above the coffee machine to get out what she needed.

"Well," he said as he peered into the refrigerator, "it looks like Sarah bought eggs and milk. So our options are cereal, toast and eggs."

"I vote for eggs and toast," Jane replied as she spooned coffee into the paper filter.

"Scrambled, right?" he asked, and she turned toward him in surprise. For some reason, early on in her time with the FBI, several different people had asked her how she liked her eggs, both within a few days of each other. It was a weird, random question, most likely asked by waitresses, but at the time it had bothered her that she didn't know the answer. She'd mentioned to Kurt in passing that it was just one more thing that she didn't know about herself, and that it frustrated her. So he'd shown up at her safe house the next morning, a Saturday, and made her four different kinds of eggs, so she could decide which ones she liked best. Of course, he'd acted like it was absolutely no big deal.

"You remembered," she said, surprise obvious in her voice, as she filled the carafe of the coffee machine with water.

"Of course," he told her with a shrug, as if it was to be expected. As he took out the eggs and looked for a medium sized bowl and a pan, she continued to watch him for a few more seconds, truly surprised by him yet again.

 _After everything that has happened since then…_ she thought, the words trailing off in her head. She turned off the water and poured it into the coffee machine, then replaced the carafe and flipped the switch to 'on.' Turning and leaning her side against the counter, she crossed her arms in front of her and watched him work.

He was cracking eggs into the bowl, smiling without looking up at her. "I see you trying to distract me," he said, pretending to scold her. "But it's not going to work."

"Oh no?" she asked with interest. She hadn't been trying to distract him, but maybe she'd try… "That sounded like a challenge."

"Call it what you want," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. Having finished cracking the eggs, he realized that he needed a fork to stir them with. It was only then that he knew he was probably going to lose this challenge, because Jane was leaning against the one drawer that he needed to access. He walked slowly towards her, looking at her with attempted defiance. _I can do this_ , he thought with determination.

"Excuse me, miss," he said with mock formality. "May I get something from that drawer you're leaning against?"

"Which drawer?" she asked, pretending to be confused and looking down. "Oh, this drawer?" she stared up at him innocently as she opened the drawer in front of her, which was _beside_ the one he needed.

He rolled his eyes at her, shaking his head and fighting the smile that he felt forming on his lips against his will. "No, unfortunately," he told her. "I need to get into the one you're leaning on."

"Am I leaning on a drawer?" she asked in surprise, looking down again at her hip, which was holding the drawer securely closed. "Oh, I guess I am." She just looked back up at him with wide, innocent eyes as she fought against the smile that was trying to take over her face, making no effort whatsoever to move.

 _Oh boy, she's going to milk this, and enjoy every second_ , he thought, slowly closing the gap between them. He stopped in front of her, a slightly bigger space separating them than the last few times, but still closer than he would stand to anyone else by choice. "I'd like to make you some breakfast," he told her sweetly.

"That's so nice of you," she replied, glancing at the gurgling coffee machine and then back to him. "I'd like that, too."

"But I need a fork, and you're blocking the drawer where the forks are," he continued, looking into her eyes and trying not to be sucked in, though he knew he was fighting a losing battle.

"I guess I am," she said in a voice just above a whisper, looking him in the eyes sadly, as if she didn't know what to do about this problem.

He took the last step forward slowly towards her, putting his hands on her waist once again, this time so lightly she could barely feel them through her t-shirt. "Would you please move out of the way so that I can get a fork?"

"I might," she replied, her eyes dancing with the hint of an evil smile. "But that depends…"

"On what?" he asked, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Do I win?" Her evil smile had spread across her face now. "Did I distract you?"

"You win," he whispered, his face now again only inches from hers. "I'm distracted." He leaned down and kissed her, despite the fact that it meant he'd lost the challenge that he had inadvertently started himself, pulling back much sooner than he wanted to in an attempt to show that he had some degree of self-control left. She grinned up at him, no longer holding back her smile. "But I'm also hungry," he growled quietly, "so could you please move out of the way?"

"Since you asked so nicely," she replied, taking a step that was half forward and half away from the counter, so that she was both slightly out of the way but also closer to him. He just shook his head at her, dropping his right hand from her waist and attempting to get what he needed while letting his left hand settle against her lower back, pulling her closer.

"But maybe I should go sit down," she mused aloud. "I think I'm distracting you."

"Oh, you think so, do you?" he asked in amusement. "Because that wasn't your goal?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she replied innocently.

He shook his head at her, smiling. "Of course you don't," he said, keeping his left hand on her back as he closed the drawer, having retrieved one fork with some difficulty, and now setting it on the counter. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" he asked her, narrowing his eyes at her playfully.

She just smiled at him and replied, "I always enjoy being around you." Just then, the coffee machine finished brewing, making the distinctive sound of the last of the water sputtering through the filter.

"Saved by the coffee," he said, reaching up his right hand to the cupboard above to get down two mugs, which he set down on the counter in front of her. She winked at him then, stepping back over to open the same drawer she'd just guarded so fiercely and removing a spoon, then closing it again and taking another step away from him to get what she needed to add to her coffee. His hand had fallen from her back, and he took the fork that he'd worked so hard to get and walked back to the bowl of eggs, shaking his head.

While he worked on the eggs, she poured coffee and made toast, and they sat down a few minutes later with their breakfast. They ate in silence for a minute, sitting side by side and glancing at each other as they ate. There was empty space, though not a lot of it, between them for the first time in quite a while, and it didn't go unnoticed by either of them.

"What?" Kurt asked her, catching her looking up at him, a happy grin on her face.

Jane blushed, shaking her head quickly and looking down at her plate again. Trying to avoid his question, she put down her fork and picked up her coffee cup, wrapping both her hands around it and enjoying the warmth, taking a long sip. It was good coffee, but it was also something to hide behind. He was still looking at her expectantly when she set the coffee down and glanced at him quickly, hoping that he'd forgotten about the question. But no, he was still watching her carefully in amusement.

She sighed, shaking her head and making a face at him. "It's just…" She looked back down, slightly embarrassed, getting about halfway through her sentence before she looked back up shyly. "This is… nice. Sitting here in our pajamas, eating breakfast… I don't… I haven't done a lot of that… that I remember." Suddenly holding her gaze steady, she watched understanding wash over him.

He knew that it was the truth, and he knew that she wasn't saying it to elicit his sympathy. That wasn't the kind of person she was. It was simply a fact.

Her words tumbled around in his head. She hadn't said she hadn't done it _at all_ , only that she hadn't done a lot of it. He wondered if that meant Oscar was the other person she'd shared that with. To Kurt's knowledge, Oscar was the only one she'd slept with since she'd become Jane. Besides having slept with someone, why else would she have been sitting around in her pajamas having breakfast with them – besides, of course, the situation in which they found themselves now? _Not_ that the fact that she'd slept with Oscar (or anyone else, for the matter) was any of his business, but he couldn't help the fact that he knew it had happened. Still, though he didn't _like_ it, he could let that part go. After all, he'd gone back and slept with Allie at around that same time… and then there was the fact that Oscar was dead. None of that really mattered anymore.

Smiling back at her, he nodded in agreement. "It _is_ nice. And it's rare for me to even get time to sit down to eat breakfast," he replied, "so I'm glad it's with you." As he had more and more since they'd been on this trip, he felt himself drawn to her as if by some sort of magnetic force. Since they were still sitting and eating, their right hands both otherwise engaged, and she was on his left, he reached his left hand over and brushed the base of her neck with his fingertips, where the top of the oil derrick tattoo stuck out from the neckline of her t-shirt, letting the rest of his hand rest against the soft cotton.

She'd been missing their almost constant contact since they'd sat down to eat, despite the fact that it had only been a few minutes, so when he rested his hand gently on the back of her neck, she couldn't help but smile as warmth flooded through her. Her head dropped forward slightly and for a second, her eyes fell closed. She knew that he was watching her, which was confirmed when she opened them again a few seconds later and she looked in his direction, giving him a knowing smile. _How did he do that, anyway? How did he temporarily make her forget everything around her?_

He slowly withdrew his hand again, and she frowned at him in response. This only made him smile more broadly at her. "We need to finish eating," he said by way of explanation. "And not get distracted."

"You say that as if getting distracted is a bad thing," she said, pretending to be offended.

He got the feeling that they could go back and forth like this all day, and he wouldn't get tired of it. "Not at all," he said, concentrating on _not_ reaching out to her again, which was a struggle. "But we need to finish eating so we can go to the beach."

She looked at him skeptically, as if finishing breakfast so that they could get to the beach was an inadequate reason for his removing his hand from her neck. Smiling at her, he added, "After all, you look really good in a bikini." That caught her off guard enough that she stopped pretending to pout and looked down, blushing, and focused on the food in front of her. He chuckled as he watched her, completely amused.

"I saw that you hung it up for me," she said, looking back up and changing the subject as she reached for her coffee again. "Thank you."

He nodded, and added, "I rinsed it out, and got as much of the water out of it as I could, too." _She looks sufficiently impressed_ , he thought with satisfaction. "Hopefully it had time to dry. Putting on a wet bathing suit is no fun."

"I wouldn't be surprised if the things we were wearing last night took _days_ to dry," she said with a smile, thinking about the rain. More specifically, the _kiss_ in the rain. "Though rinsing that bathing suit probably wasn't necessary after all that rain…" He chuckled, nodding, and just smiled. "But it certainly couldn't hurt it," she added. She took her last bite of food, her last sip of her coffee, and started to stand up slowly. Before she could get anywhere, however, he'd pushed back his chair and taken her hand, tugging her toward him.

"What?" she asked, grinning down at him. Holding onto her hand, he maneuvered her so that when he tugged on her once more, she was suddenly sitting in his lap. Looking at him in surprise for a second, she just smiled in amusement. "You know, this doesn't help us get ready to go to the beach," she told him, just barely holding back her laughter.

"No, it doesn't," he agreed. "But it helps me do this." He leaned forward, one hand on her lower back and the other lightly on her knee, and kissed her. He could feel her smiling even as he kissed her, which was a strange but agreeable feeling, and he withdrew slowly, opening his eyes to look at her. The smile was still there.

"You have to admit, that was a little cheesy," she said, slightly out of breath.

"Are you complaining?" he asked, arching an eyebrow at her.

"Not even a little bit," she replied with a smile, snuggling against him and leaning down to put her head on his shoulder, as he pulled his arms around her.

They sat there for a minute, and without even realizing it he started tracing the lines of ink on her arm just below her t-shirt sleeve. This, of course, only made her more determined to stay exactly where she was. "Hmm," he said, suddenly realizing what he was doing. "I'm not helping us get to the beach faster, am I?"

"Nope," she replied without moving her head from his shoulder. "You did this to yourself." There had been a time when she would never have uttered those words jokingly. A long time, actually. But after many, many sessions with Dr. Borden, and a lot of time and introspection, she'd come a long way. She was determined not to let things like that, like her past, known or unknown, hold that much power over her. Besides, this was a much more positive association to have with that haunting phrase.

He chuckled at her choice of words. Even knowing that the past was well behind them, he sometimes worried when one of them said something that made such an obvious reference to _that_ time. Not the time that Jane couldn't remember – though it was linked to that also – but that time that she _could_ remember, when things had fallen apart so completely. From her tone he could hear that she was alright, or at least he was ninety-nine percent sure she was… still, he felt the need to reassure her – or maybe just himself. He turned his head slightly and kissed her forehead, then turned his head and rested it on hers.

"Hmmmm…" he hummed, pressing his cheek against the top of her head, "Yes I did, and I don't regret it for a second."

"This is so much better than yesterday's breakfast," she said quietly, hoping that he'd forget about how much he wanted to go to the beach. She could easily have sat there for hours.

"It was the eggs," he replied seriously, and she couldn't help but chuckle.

"What?" he asked, turning his head to look down in her direction. " _That's_ the main difference from breakfast yesterday, right?"

"Right. Absolutely," she replied, shaking her head against him. _He's so silly sometimes_ , she thought, knowing she was the only one in the world who would think to call Kurt Weller "silly." He was an absolutely serious guy with everyone else, after all. Even with her, his humor was usually of the deadpan variety, which suited him perfectly.

She felt him tighten his arms around her for a second, and then they began to loosen, to her displeasure. "Alright, time to get ready," he proclaimed. "I need to accept my fate with dignity, and go out there and be buried in the sand." She chuckled, but didn't lift her head from his shoulder. Instead, she took his right hand between both of hers and began tracing the inkless skin the same way he liked to trace her tattoos. He smiled, watching her fingers for a few seconds before turning his hand and closing it around hers. "Yes, you're very distracting, and I know exactly what you're doing. Now stop stalling," he told her. "Time to stand up."

Shaking her head against his shoulder, she made a noise of protest, which made him chuckle. He kissed the top of her head and then began to push her off his lap. "Come on, get moving," he told her.

Looking back in pretend annoyance as she was forced to stand up, she muttered, "So rude…" and walked slowly back towards the bathroom to retrieve her bathing suit, hoping that it was dry. Luckily for her, it _was_ dry, for which she was very grateful. Kurt met her at the bathroom door as she walked out holding the small pieces of red fabric. He stood to the side, waiting for her to walk by, and she blushed slightly as she saw him looking at the material in her hand.

"Is it dry?" he asked.

"Yes, thankfully," she told him as he went in, closing the door behind him.

She emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later, wearing the red bikini and holding a clean t-shirt and shorts in front of her, feeling unexpectedly self-conscious, even though Kurt was the only one there. He was sitting on the couch, once again dressed in his bathing suit, his chest bare, she couldn't help but notice. Walking slowly down the hall, she came to a stop where the hall met the small living area, looking around uncomfortably. She hadn't felt like this since…

For some reason, the first thing that came to her mind was the first time Kurt had seen her in that dress she'd worn for the undercover Rich Dotcom mission, which, ironically, had been the opposite of what she was now wearing, having covered nearly every inch of her. It was the look that he was giving her, she realized, that was making her think of that day… the intense look on his face…

She was frozen in place, but he finally regained the power of movement and walked towards her, stopping slightly farther away than she'd expected – just within his arms' reach of her. "You look…" he said, but stopped. His eyes were locked on hers. "Beautiful."

Slightly confused, she shook her head at him. "It's the same thing I was wearing yesterday…"

He chuckled at her, finally stepping closer, looking like he wanted to reach for her but wasn't quite sure where to do so, with so much skin suddenly exposed – even though, as Jane said, she'd been wearing the same bikini the day before. She took pity on him, reaching her right hand for his left and knitting her index and middle fingers through his loosely. His right hand then came up to rest on her now bare lower back, his thumb moving slowly up and down, sending what felt like short jolts of electric current shooting through her limbs.

"So, I think I need some sunblock…" she said, half as a statement and half as a question, trying to break the sudden awkwardness that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. His face relaxed and his smile became less intense, more familiar, as he raised an eyebrow at her. "After all," she continued, "I've been told that my fair skin would burn easily, so…"

Feeling like his mind had been set on a delay, and he was now catching up, he said quietly, "I _know_ you were wearing this yesterday. Somehow it just looks even better on you than I remembered it." He paused, watching as she smiled and blushed slightly, then added, "And I'd be happy to help you with the sunblock." And then, because he could, he leaned down to kiss her, still in awe that doing so was now an option.

"Come sit down on the couch," he told her, picking up the sunblock bottle from where it sat on the coffee table. "Since it's not the spray one, we don't need to go outside to do it." That was one advantage to the sunblock lotion. If she wasn't mistaken, it also took a little bit more effort to rub that one in, which was another advantage in this case – not that Kurt wouldn't still rub it into her skin far more than was necessary. She smiled at the thought, as the various times they'd applied sunblock to each other the previous day flipped through her mind, creating a montage.

"What are you smiling about?" he asked. Really, they'd both been smiling almost all weekend, and it was addictive. This _happiness_ was addictive. They sat down on the couch close beside each other, and instead of turning her back towards him, she moved her face closer to his, until the tip of her nose touched his.

"You," she whispered. The simplicity of her answer caught him off guard, and the idea that simply thinking of him could be the cause of her smile warmed him from the inside out. Once again, he felt almost frozen in place, overwhelmed by his emotions. Glancing at the ceiling as she thought for a second, then smiling steadily back at him, she added, "Well, technically, you and sunblock."

He couldn't help but chuckle at her then, as she began to turn around, her left foot on the floor, her right leg folded up in front of her on the couch so that she could face away from him. "I'll tell you a secret," he said softly, leaning over her shoulder to speak near her ear, even though what he was telling her wasn't actually a secret, and there was no one else there to hear it. He simply liked the excuse to lean closer to her. "Sunblock isn't usually fun. Most people don't like it _at all_."

She turned her face towards his, which was still positioned over her shoulder, gave a small shrug and said, "They just don't have the right person helping them."

He couldn't help but smile at that. From someone else, it might have sounded cheesy, but she said it with absolute sincerity. Without a second thought, he leaned forward enough to kiss her cheek, then sat back and opened the top of the sunblock. The sound was familiar by now, and she stared at the wall ahead of her as she listened to his hands rubbing together to warm it slightly before he brought them to her shoulders, where he always started.

It was hard to imagine that about twenty-four hours before, he'd done this for the first time. Her eyes closed without her even realizing it, and she became unconscious of anything else around her except his fingers on her skin. If there was a heaven, then this was it.

He worked his way down her back, obviously not in any kind of hurry. Still, when he reached the upper part of her sides, slightly obscured by her arms as she sat, she could feel the hesitation in his fingers without even having to turn and look at him. Raising her shoulders slightly and shifting her arms forward so that they no longer blocked his hands, she shivered slightly as his hands moved very slowly, in one fluid motion, down the sides of her upper ribcage, not straying any farther toward the front of her, then returning to the middle of her back.

As he had the other times, he worked his way down her back and then back up again, doing even more tracing of her tattoos on the way up her back than he had the day before. This time, however, she wisely said nothing, which meant that the application of sunblock ended up taking at least three times longer than it needed to – and this was perfectly fine with her.

Finally, he slid his hands from her shoulders, down her arms almost to her hands before pulling them across the front of her into a hug, leaning against her back. He'd stood behind her like this in the water the previous day, of course, with the skin of her back against the skin of his chest, but somehow it now felt even more intimate than it had the previous day. Everything did, really, ever since the first time he'd kissed her in the rain the previous night.

"I think that should be good for now," he said quietly, leaning over her shoulder again, this time resting his chin against the bare skin.

"No arguments here," she said, still completely under his spell. He chuckled at her, glad to see that it wasn't just him who was slightly in awe of _this_ … whatever it was.

"Okay, turn around," he said, hesitantly removing his chin from her shoulder. She did, and the next thing she knew, there were small blobs of sunblock being applied to her cheeks.

"I'd forgotten about this part," she said with a smile, her cheeks flushing from the sudden scrutiny she was under. She certainly wasn't complaining about his fingers moving across her face – she swore he was working even more slowly than he had yesterday, as if he was trying to take as long as possible. She watched him work for a few seconds, then added, "I'm not sure _how_ I forgot about this." He just smiled at her, smoothing in the sunblock. Far too soon, his fingers stopped moving, coming to rest on her cheek. For a few seconds he just stared at her, almost in disbelief.

 _This is really happening,_ he had to remind himself. Just to be sure, he leaned forward and kissed her again. _Yep, it's really happening_ , he thought with a smile.

When he opened his eyes again, leaning back slightly, she was watching him. "What're _you_ smiling about?" she asked.

"You," he replied, just as she had a few minutes before, then added, "Just you." She looked down for a second, then back up at him, wondering how she had managed to get so lucky. There wasn't even anything in her memory with which she could compare this feeling. She supposed that this was… _happiness_ , pure and simple.

She reached forward and took the bottle of sunblock from him, dotting it onto her own fingers, then transferring it to his face. Never mind that since they were still at the house, they both could have done this for themselves just by looking in a mirror. What would be the fun in that?

You'd have thought that at this point, he knew that he had to stay still, but Jane found herself having to remind him of this multiple times. "Are you moving all around just so I'll do _this_?" Jane asked, finally giving up on the sunblock temporarily and putting both of her hands on his cheeks. She held his face still for a few seconds, looking at him with a frustrated smile. She was fairly sure that that was _exactly_ what he was doing, just to get extra attention.

He grinned slightly, having been caught red-handed. "Maybe…" he said, looking away from her and trying to keep a straight face.

She shook her head, rolling her eyes. "Just let me finish first, okay?" she asked. She kept her left hand on his cheek to attempt to keep him steady, and brushed her right along his hairline of his forehead and then down the side of his face, finally rubbing in a spot of white on the tip of his nose. She took her hands off of his face to inspect her work, then declared herself finished.

"So I can move now?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. As soon as she answered, he leaned forward to kiss her yet again, leaning back with a grin on his face.

"What?" he asked innocently. "You said you were done, and I could move." She just smiled and shook her head at him.

"It's true, I did," she admitted. She turned to reach for the other bottle of sunblock on the coffee table.

Pushing himself off of the couch and standing up, he held his right hand out to her, waiting for her to follow. She sighed, letting him pull her up and then keeping hold of his hand as they walked to the front door. "I guess I could use some fresh air," she mused aloud as they stepped outside. He handed her the bottle of sunblock, and then turned slowly away from her. That was the hardest thing he'd tried to do so far this weekend, he was fairly certain – to look away from her.

After covering his back with the spray, she started with his neck and shoulders, working equally as slowly and methodically as he had on her. Despite how many times they'd applied sunblock to each other the previous day, somehow it felt like the first time all over again. She wasn't nervous, exactly, it was just… well, if you'd told her forty eight-hours before that this was where she'd be today, she wouldn't have believed it.

 _Well, a lot has changed since then,_ she reminded herself.

He shivered a little bit when the spray hit his back, and then again, in a completely different way, when he felt her hands on his shoulders. It didn't matter that they'd done this quite a few times the day before, having her rub his back still felt like just as much of a novelty as it had the first time. He made a mental note to double check their sunblock supply, because he was sure they'd gone through a lot of it the previous day. They wouldn't want to run out, of course – for a few reasons.

Despite the fact that she worked slowly and carefully, she felt like she'd reached his lower back far too soon, and she tried to slow down as she worked her way back up toward his shoulders. Whether it was his hands on her skin or her hands on his, there was something almost magical about the effect. There always had been. The only thing better would have been if she couldn't looked into his eyes at the same time, not just stared at the back of his head.

Kurt leaned his head forward, thinking that Jane had had a better deal, getting to sit down while he rubbed in her sunblock. He'd have to try to remember that for next time. Still, he really couldn't complain about having her hands moving down his back and then back up again. The more they did this, the closer their sunblock applications got to being backrubs, and he was starting to think that this was just one more thing on the long list of things that Jane was _really_ good at it. He wasn't exactly tense after the beach day they'd had yesterday, but even still, he felt himself significantly more relaxed when her hands stopped moving, back at the base of his neck where they'd started.

She reached his shoulders again, tracing his neck with her thumbs. "I think you're all set," she told him, and he slowly began to turn back around toward her.

"Long time, no see," he said quietly when he finally saw her face again, which made her smile. It did, indeed, feel like a long time that she'd been looking at the back of his head.

"I guess it's time to go up to the beach, right? Before Sawyer leads a very impatient search party to find his missing Uncle Kurt?" Jane asked reluctantly. She didn't _want_ to go, exactly, though she _was_ looking forward to helping bury Kurt in the sand. And now that she could look into his eyes again, she didn't mind as much.

"Yeah," he nodded, not moving. She smiled and shook her head at him, then bent down and picked up the two bottles of sunblock, handing him the spray. They each finished applying it to the areas they _were_ able to reach, stealing glances at each other as they worked. Kurt finished first, and stood watching as the sunblock disappeared beneath the ink of her tattoos.

"Come on, we'd better get our stuff and get going," he said.

"I'm ready," she declared, finally finished.

They walked back into the house, where she pulled on her shorts and t-shirt over her bathing suit, only to turn around and find him looking at her with mock disappointment.

"Shut up," she said, "You'll be seeing the bikini again in just a little while." He grinned then, and picked up the bag of towels that was sitting on the floor. It wasn't as full this time, and he imagined that Sarah had probably taken a few with them to the beach. They each tossed the remaining sunblock into the beach bag that he had bought the day before, which Jane carried, and Kurt checked that the few other necessary items that had been in his pockets the previous day were now in Jane's bag as well.

"Ready?" he asked her. After a quick text to Sarah to confirm that she had the key to the house, he locked the door from the inside and closed it behind them as they set off, hand in hand, toward the beach. Getting out the door quickly apparently wasn't their specialty, but after all, they were on vacation.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, gravitating closer and closer together until it was easier to trade hand holding for his arm around her shoulders and hers across his lower back. There was a crowd of beach goers of various ages ahead of them on the sidewalk, laughing and shouting loudly, and he suddenly had a flashback to the previous day and the things that they'd heard – some whispered and some said outright – about Jane in the crowd of people on their way to the beach. With that thought in his head, he purposely tugged on her to slow their pace.

Somehow, of course, she knew exactly what he was doing. "It won't change anything," she whispered. "They're going to say what they're going to say."

He pulled her closer, unable to understand how people's reactions to her tattoos didn't seem to bother her. "It _will_ change something," he growled. "It'll stop me from doing something I'd later regret to the dumbasses who can't keep their mouths shut." She grinned at his sweet, if slightly violent, protectiveness of her, turning to kiss him on the cheek.

"There's people like that everywhere," she replied quietly. "We can't avoid them all. Or punch them all, for that matter."

"Fair enough," Kurt agreed reluctantly, "but we _can_ avoid those particular people in front of us." She smiled, shaking her head at him.

"You know that there are _people_ on the beach, right? A _lot_ more of them that that?" she asked him patiently, as if she was talking to a small child who might not have known this. "We did see a bunch of them there yesterday."

"Yes, Jane," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Just checking," she chuckled. "And you promise not to assault any of them? No matter _what_ they say about me?"

He looked down at her stubbornly, but finally nodded, knowing that she was right, but hating it at the same time. "I know…" he finally forced himself to say, "that you don't need anyone to defend your honor." The tone in his voice was that of a child who was being made to apologize for something he didn't regret and who was not happy about it.

She stopped on the sidewalk, pulling him to a stop as well, and stepped around him, so that she was in front of him. "No, you're right, I don't," she said matter-of-factly, "but I love that you want to. And if you didn't have my back, I wouldn't be here right now. So keep on doing _that_ , okay?" Her right arm was still wrapped around his waist, and her left hand came up to his cheek, resting there lightly for a few seconds before she leaned in to kiss him. It lasted only a few seconds, but when she leaned back again, he looked calmer, less angry.

"Okay," he said, looking more like his usual, controlled self. "But in the meantime..."

She smiled in amusement as she moved her hand back off of his face and turned around to start walking again. "I know, I know…" she said, "walk slower." She felt him squeeze her shoulder, and she just shook her head. "If it makes you happy, that's fine with me… After all, you're right here, so I'm not in a rush."


	12. Not Allowed

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: I know the wait for this chapter has been slightly longer than my usual lately, but for some reason this one was giving me trouble. However, when I say that once I got going, it grew a little out of control, I'm not kidding. I had to force myself to cut it in_ _ **half**_ _(so yes, this is only half as long as it would have been). Therefore, the wait for the next chapter will be very short, since the next one is basically already written and edited. I hope you enjoy it!_

Jane and Kurt reached the boardwalk without any major incidents, and thankfully, without Kurt feeling the need to punch anyone. He made a conscious effort to be calm, avoiding the crowds of people on their way to the beach as much as possible and trying to close his ears to the conversations of the people around them. Even now, twenty-four hours after they'd clearly heard people blatantly insulting Jane practically to her face because of her tattoos, it still upset him. He didn't know how Jane had remained so calm. Still, despite the fact that it hadn't seemed to rattle her, and despite the fact that she could certainly take care of herself, he felt fiercely protective of her. Even a few whispered words or a sentence that ended abruptly nearby was enough to make him tug her a little closer to him. Neither of them turned to acknowledge any of these, but they did hear several.

They walked to the railing at the far edge of the boardwalk, the same one they'd leaned against in the rain the night before. Standing beside the stairs side by side, they stared out at the beach. It was already littered with people despite the fact that it was only just before nine o'clock in the morning. It was far more crowded than it had been the previous day at that time, since it was Saturday morning and now officially the weekend, and it took them a few minutes to figure out where Sarah and Sawyer had set up their things.

"I see it," Kurt said, pointing to a brightly striped orange and yellow towel beside a dark blue one, partway down the beach toward the water.

Sarah, even the prepared one, had made sure to spread out her brightest towel in the sand, so even though she and Sawyer weren't actually _on_ the towel, Jane and Kurt knew that that was their space.

Jane took one step to walk toward the stairs, but Kurt quickly grabbed her left hand, pulling her back. She looked at him, puzzled, and stepped back toward him. He'd turned around to lean his back against the railing, a serious expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked, confused.

"Nothing's wrong," he replied, tugging her toward him until she was in front of him, close enough to reach his arms around to her lower back. She rested her hands on the skin just below where the sleeves of his t-shirt ended, her thumbs moving back and forth almost imperceptibly.

"Oh," she said slowly, wondering if was guessing right, based on his behavior. "When we find Sarah and Sawyer, are we not…?" she trailed off, not even sure what she was asking. _Kissing in front of them_ , she wanted to say at the end of her sentence, but somehow she felt self-conscious about actually forming the words.

He smiled at her knowingly, pulling her closer still. "Kissing?" he asked her, pulling her in for a kiss and then leaning back to look at her. "It's up to you," he told her, reaching up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, then returning his hand to its position on her lower back. "Within reason, of course," he added, "Sawyer _is_ only eleven… we don't want to traumatize the kid." She swatted at him playfully and they both laughed. Serious again, he looked into her eyes, as if trying to ask her something without actually using words. They'd always been good at this.

"But no, that's not why I pulled you back here. And nothing's wrong," he said slowly, "I just wanted you to myself for one more second." He paused, looking thoughtful, then asked, "Do you have thoughts… about the kissing thing?"

She blushed furiously, shaking her head and looking away. "Stop it," she said without looking at him.

"Really? No thoughts?" He looked at her skeptically, purposely pretending to misunderstand her. "So if I stayed five feet away from you at all times… that would be okay?"

"No," she replied, finally looking at him and narrowing her eyes playfully, "Why? Was _that_ your plan? Because I think we've already proven that that's going to fail. _Quickly_."

He chuckled, knowing his bluff had been called. After all, their faces were only a matter of inches apart just then, and already he had the feeling that they weren't quite close enough. He was about to say something else when suddenly, a familiar voice rang out from just behind him, down below in the sand. "Uncle Kurt! Jane! You guys _finally_ made it!" It was Sawyer, of course.

For just a second, Jane's eyes met Kurt's as they both remembered another time when Sawyer had appeared seemingly out of nowhere… the night that she'd slipped her detail, shown up outside his apartment building, and kissed him. Their first kiss. She had been abducted by Carter's men almost immediately afterward. So many things might have been difference in their past if not for that one interruption…

Kurt turned around to lean over the railing and look down at his nephew, and Jane slid over beside him, both of them resting their forearms on the metal railing. "Hey, buddy!" Kurt called. "Where'd you come from?"

"I saw you from across the beach!" Sawyer yelled excitedly. "Are you coming down or what?" Sarah was walking up towards them as well, having obviously fallen significantly behind her son, who'd probably sprinted across the sand when he'd spotted them.

"Of course!" Kurt called, taking Jane's hand as they started toward the stairs. She looked down at their hands questioningly, then back up at him, just like she had at his hand on her waist when they'd taken a picture by the Neptune statue together the day before.

 _Are you sure?_ her face asked. In reply to her unasked question, he stopped walking, leaned over and, to her surprise, pressed a gentle kiss against her lips. She smiled, feeling warmth rush to her cheeks and knew that they were probably once again a lovely shade of pink that was _not_ caused by the sun.

"Maybe I should ask more questions nonverbally," she whispered, which made him chuckle as he turned around and they walked down the stairs.

Looking up, she saw Sawyer run up to Sarah, who'd now caught up to him. "I found them, mom!" he called excitedly.

"I see that," Sarah replied, coming to a stop in front of them and looking from one of them to the other, not missing their joined hands and obviously not having just missed the kiss he'd just given her. She looked beyond pleased – her smile could've powered a small electrical device with its intensity just then.

"How's it going, you guys?" she asked, trying to act casual, though failing badly.

"Pretty good," Kurt told his sister, equally nonchalantly. Then, turning to Sawyer, he said, "Sorry we took too long for you, buddy."

"That's okay," Sawyer said with a grin, their "lateness" now forgotten. "Come see the giant hole I've been digging!"

"Oh yes," Sarah agreed, "come see how he's been spending his morning so far." They walked down the beach toward the water, Jane and Kurt following behind Sarah and Sawyer, dodging between towels, umbrellas and sand toys, until they finally reached Sawyer's giant hole. He hadn't been exaggerating, either, because it really _was_ a giant hole. Approximately three feet wide and almost two feet deep, the hole was quite impressive.

"Wow," Jane said aloud as they stopped in front of it. "That _is_ a giant hole. Did you dig that whole thing by yourself?"

"No," Sawyer replied, shaking his head, "there were some other kids helping me for a while, but they got bored and wandered down that way." Sawyer pointed down the beach, appearing to be looking for the kids in question for a second before looking back up.

"So," Kurt asked him, "is the hole big enough, or do you need some help?" Sawyer looked at the hole as if this was a question requiring serious consideration.

"It's not done yet," he replied. Then, as if he suddenly understood why his uncle was asking, he asked, "Why? Do you want to help?" The boy's voice was hopeful.

"How many shovels do you have?" Jane asked. It looked like it would be fun, and it certainly wasn't something she'd ever done before, that she could remember anyway.

"I think I have five," he replied. "They should all be in that big bucket." Sawyer pointed at a large red bucket a few feet away from them. Jane stepped over to peer inside, and sure enough, there were five plastic shovels inside, all different colors. She bent down and took out two, handing a blue one to Kurt and keeping a purple one for herself.

"Let's get to work, then," Kurt said with a smile. Though he didn't want to, he dropped Jane's hand slowly, letting his fingertips linger against hers for an extra second. The look on his face was apologetic, but she just smiled back at him, not at all surprised that they couldn't help dig Sawyer's hole in the sand while holding hands. It wasn't as though Kurt was going anywhere, after all – though she _did_ miss the contact almost immediately.

"Here," Sarah said hastily, still standing nearby, "give me the bags, and I'll put them over here with our other stuff." Kurt handed her the bag of towels, then squatted down in the sand. Jane was about to hand Sarah the beach bag, when she realized that she might as well take off her shorts and t-shirt before sitting down and getting them sandy.

"It's okay, I've got it," she told Sarah, following her the short distance to where their towels were laid out. "I should take this stuff off, before I sit down in the sand, anyway." She set her new green beach bag down beside Sarah's brightly striped towel, and then, thinking _Here goes nothing_ , she took off the shorts and t-shirt that had been hiding so many of her tattoos. She wasn't sure if she imagined it, or if she heard a faint gasp or two from somewhere nearby. The noise of the waves made it too hard to tell, for which she was grateful. Sure that she could feel eyes on her from somewhere, she glanced around quickly, but didn't catch anyone staring at her. Still, she knew that the odds were that _someone_ was, and she tried her best to keep her face neutral.

Sarah hadn't heard anything specific, but she had noticed a slight change in Jane as soon as she had stripped down to her bathing suit. She couldn't help but remember that Jane had been the one to reassure _her_ about the murmurs surrounding her tattoos the day before, but now she saw Jane glance around, clearly sensitive to the additional attention she was sure to get. Being the kind person that she was, Sarah felt the need to reassure her.

She leaned over to Jane conspiratorially, whispering, "If they're looking, it's because you make the rest of us look bad, Jane. And if they're being nasty, it's because they're jealous." She watched as Jane blushed slightly in surprise, obviously not having expected that from her.

"What? Oh… No… I mean, uh, thanks," she stammered, thinking back to the conversation she'd had with Sarah the day before amidst the crowd of people on their way to the beach – some of whom had been downright rude about Jane's tattoos. "Just… don't say anything to Kurt… he's being a little, uh, overly protective on that particular subject."

Sarah just chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds like him, always trying to protect people," she agreed. "So," she added, unable to resist, "Did you guys have fun last night?"

Jane looked up at her and smiled, and Sarah saw her blushing. "Yeah, we, uh… went to Catch 31 for dinner," Jane said slowly. "It was really good. We sat at one of the tables on the patio with the fire pits."

"Oh, those are so cool!" Sarah exclaimed. "One of these days I'll do more than walk by there… Did you guys get stuck in that crazy rain I heard when I was going to bed? It sounded like a monsoon."

"Yeah, we did, actually," Jane replied, remembering back to the night before, and standing in the rain with Kurt. She could feel the goofy smile on her face, but she didn't care. Besides, there was nothing she could do to get rid of it, anyway, even if she'd wanted to. "We were soaked pretty fast, so we just kinda gave in to it… but it was warm outside, so it was okay. It was a good night."

Sarah was watching her with a grin on her face when Jane looked up at her, and she glanced back at the boys quickly to try to hide her slight discomfort. She knew that Sarah was just happy for them, she just wasn't accustomed to being on the receiving end of so much attention – not from anyone except Kurt, of course.

"Well, good," Sarah said with a smile. "Oh, before I forget to tell you… I heard that there's some sort of concert down here tonight, further up the boardwalk. I think it's in that park by the Neptune statue… someone told me it was a surprise guest," Sarah told her. "It might be worth checking out."

Jane nodded. "Good to know," she said, glancing back at the boys, who seemed to be involved in a deep discussion of some kind. "I'm going to see if the boys need help with the digging," Jane told Sarah, who chuckled slightly.

"Have fun," she called after her, watching Jane approach them, and the way Kurt's eyes lit up when he saw her. Yes, she looked gorgeous in her bathing suit, but it wasn't just that. She'd watched his face change many times, both when he was around Jane, and when he was simply talking _about_ her, but it was even more noticeable now. His feelings for her had clearly only grown stronger over time, despite everything they had been through.

 _It's so good to see him so happy,_ she thought to herself, laying back on her towel to relax now that her son was momentarily occupied. To say that her brother had had a hard life so far was a vast understatement, and he deserved to finally have something good happen to him.

Jane sat down in the sand along the edge of the hole not far from Kurt, carefully trying not to push the sand along the edge into the hole under her weight. Kurt turned and smiled at her, his eyes sparkling, as he laughed at something he and Sawyer had been discussing. She found it impossible not to smile right back at him, their eyes locking for a few seconds before she glanced down at the sand. Reaching into the hole with the plastic shovel she was still holding, she tried to lift out as much sand as she could at once, as the boys were doing. It was heavier that she'd expected – but then, she'd never tried digging in the sand before.

"Hey, Sawyer," she called when she heard a break in the boys' conversation, "How will we know when we're done digging?"

Sawyer considered her question, looking into the hole intently as if he was evaluating their progress. "We're almost done," he assured her. Just then, a wave washed up close to the hole, nearly reaching the side of it. "Oh wow! That was close," Sawyer said in relief. "Time to finish up."

"Besides, when the waves get high enough," Kurt said as they continued to dig, "the water will fill it up and start filling it back in. It'll be like it was never here."

He happened to be looking at Jane when he said it, and he saw a flash of what might have been surprise in her eyes for a split second, and then it was gone. She looked like her normal self, however, he wanted to kick himself for phrasing it that way. He knew that _she_ knew that his words hadn't been intentional, but that wouldn't necessarily make the sting any less. When you – or another version of you – had erased yourself (herself?) from existence, it was possible that you'd be a little bit sensitive to the words _like it was never there_.

Watching him carefully, she saw his face change as soon as the words had left his mouth. They had stung for just an instant, but she knew without a doubt that he would have taken them back if he could have. Besides, he wasn't wrong. The beach _would_ look like the hole had never been there once the waves washed over it in a little while. There wasn't _supposed to be_ any deeper meaning to what he'd said. The fact that it reminded her of something was a coincidence.

They watched each other for a few seconds, both trying to evaluate the other's emotional state. Jane smiled at him, trying to show him that she was fine, but he continued to frown. "How does that look, Sawyer? Do we need to keep going?" Jane asked, attempting to create a reason for them to get up so she could reassure Kurt that she was okay.

"It's perfect," Sawyer replied. "Thanks you guys." Just then, a much bigger wave rolled in, filling the hole completely and partially knocking down the side that they were sitting on. There were cries of surprise and laughter as the water splashed them, and they jumped up and attempted to step back from the sand as it rushed back into the hole they'd just created, as some of the sand was then washed back out with the current as the wave receded. Suddenly, just as Jane had hoped, they were standing right beside each other.

Water had splashed up the front of Kurt's shirt, which made him realize that he may as well take it off, which he did. Instead of holding onto it, he swung it over his shoulder and looked from Jane to Sawyer, wondering how he could get a minute to talk to Jane alone.

"Come on, Uncle Kurt," Sawyer called, "You said I could bury you in the sand…"

He smiled at his nephew. "Of course you can, buddy, just give me one second to talk to Jane, okay?"

"Okay," Sawyer said excitedly, jogging back towards Sarah.

Just like that, they had a second alone – or, as alone as they could be on a crowded beach. She was standing slightly on his left side, leaning into him and trying to get him to look at her, which he suddenly seemed not to want to do. "Hey," she said, "it's fine."

"Sorry," he said in a loud whisper that was almost drowned out by the sound of waves.

"Not allowed," she told him. "It was a statement of fact. Look," she said, gesturing toward the hole, which was already nearly filled in again. In another few minutes, they probably wouldn't even know that it had been there. "Besides," she continued, "she _didn't_ disappear without a trace. Though maybe that would have been a _good_ thing, in this case…" After all, the traces of her that had been left behind had certainly not been easy to deal with, especially once Roman and Shepherd had been brought into the picture. But they, like the rest of it, were now in her past for better or worse.

It may have been strange that they tended to refer to that other person that Jane had been, named Remi, as _she_ , despite the fact that she and Jane were physically the same person. In so many ways, however, Jane was simply not her. Remi had, from what they'd learned, been a killer, seemingly able to murder people without conscience if it was in the name of their "mission," the reset of the United States as a whole. Jane, while she possessed Remi's _skills_ , and while she was equally passionate about what she believed in, couldn't in good conscience do the things that Remi had done. She was simply not the same person. It made sense to them, therefore, to refer to her as a separate person, and that was all that mattered. Even if she sometimes _wished_ that Remi hadn't left a trace, she had.

Kurt looked at her uncertainly, still feeling guilty, but she just smiled at him.

"Nope, none of that," she told him with a smile, leaning her face closer to his. As she did, she saw the tension in his face ease, and his mouth begin to form into a smile. "That's better," she said, holding herself still with several inches between their noses. She kept her eyes locked onto his until there was no trace of the pained expression she'd seen a moment before. Closing the small gap between them, he leaned forward and kissed her so quickly, she almost didn't have time to react before he was already leaning back again.

Smiling, they turned toward Sarah, who they both saw hurriedly try to cover for the fact that she'd been watching them – which was pretty much as they expected. Even as she looked away, there was a grin on her face. Jane and Kurt grinned as well. They'd known going in that they had Sarah scrutinizing them, but they didn't mind. Not really. How could they, at that point, when she was the reason they were there at all?

They walked back toward Sarah and Sawyer, who were sitting on their towels. Sarah looked up at them, no longer trying to hide the grin on her face. "Hi, guys," she greeted them. It was obvious that she was stopping herself from saying whatever it was that she really wanted to say.

"Okay, Uncle Kurt, are you ready?" Sawyer asked, drawing their focus away from Sarah's wide grin. Jane was glad for the distraction, because while it was a friendly look, she'd been getting a little uncomfortable with the attention from Kurt's sister, no matter how happy she was for them.

"Oh, just a second," Jane said, bending down and reaching into her beach bag. She pulled out her phone and stood up, saying, "I want to get a picture of you _before_ we bury you in the sand." Kurt just looked at her, shaking his head in amusement. She stood back and snapped a picture of him with the ocean in the background, before Sarah came up beside her.

"Go get in the picture _with_ him, Jane," she said, holding her hand out for the phone. "I'll take it for you."

"Oh, okay, thanks," Jane replied hesitantly, surprised, but glad for the excuse to stand next to him. Sarah took the phone, and while she adjusted the frame the way she wanted it, Jane walked over to Kurt, who was looking at her in amusement.

"Come here," he whispered as she walked up to him and turned around, suddenly not sure where or how to stand. He draped his arm over her shoulders, pulling her closer, and without any further thought, she wrapped her arm around his lower back, the position that now felt so familiar. Sarah didn't have to tell them to smile – goofy smiles were plastered on their faces.

Sarah was ready to take the picture when some people wandered by behind them. "Oh, hold on guys, I need to wait a second for a clear shot," Sarah called to them. A group of five or six people walked by slowly behind them, apparently oblivious to Sarah's attempt to take a picture with the ocean – and not other tourists – in the background.

"If I must," Kurt whispered, and Jane chuckled. If there was one thing she wouldn't complain about, that that was being told to hold still where she was at that moment. He turned his face towards her, leaning his face down and resting his forehead and his nose against her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo.

"Okay, ready?" Sarah asked a few seconds later, when the shot was finally clear, and Kurt looked back up at the camera obediently.

All too soon, of course, Sarah was finished and was holding the phone back out to Jane. After hesitating for just a second, she started forward to take the phone from the other woman, feeling Kurt drop his hand from her shoulder only very reluctantly, and only because she had to step outside of his reach.

With the phone in her hands once more, Jane immediately pulled the picture up on the screen. She found that Sarah had actually taken several in rapid succession, giving her a few similar pictures to choose from. She'd already picked her favorite one when she felt Kurt looking over her shoulder, then less than a second later felt his arms around the bare skin of her waist. She inhaled quickly in surprise, leaning back slightly against him and wondering what she could possibly have done to deserve this good fortune. For a few seconds she felt lightheaded, and she had to remind herself to breathe, sure the dopey grin was on her face once again.

Turned her face slightly, she found that his face was just beside hers as her cheek brushed against the scruff on his. This made them both smile once again, this time at each other. Only a few seconds later, it seemed, Jane's phone buzzed and a notification popped up on her screen. It said that Sarah had sent her what looked like a picture, but the box was simply to tiny to see.

Clicking on it, Jane blushed slightly when she saw that what Sarah had sent her was indeed a picture, a candid shot, more specifically, of the two of them from the waist up, standing and looking at the picture on her phone. In other words, she'd taken a picture of them standing exactly where they were now and texted it to her before they could even move.

They both looked up at Sarah, only a few feet away, where she stood grinning at them. "In my defense, I couldn't help it. You guys are just too cute," Sarah said with a grin.

"It's a really nice picture, thank you," Jane replied. That suddenly reminded Jane of something that Patterson had said to her before they'd parted ways on Thursday evening.

 _Send me a picture or two,_ her friend had urged her, _and I can't wait to hear how much fun you had._

Smiling to herself and looking back down at her phone, Jane saved the picture Sarah had just sent her, and then selected that one and the one they'd been looking at when the second one had been taken. Feeling slightly nervous but doing it anyway, she quickly attached them to a text to Patterson, clicking send before she could change her mind. _It makes sense to send her pictures where she can see me in the bathing suit she helped me pick out,_ Jane thought to herself, knowing that that was only part of the reason she'd sent them. She imagined Patterson, back in New York, her jaw hitting the floor when she saw the pictures, and stifled a chuckle.

"Did you just send those to Patterson?" Jane was surprised when Kurt's voice suddenly rumbled quietly in her ear, a mixture of surprise and amusement. He was still standing so close to her, after all, that despite the glare of the sun, he could see her screen fairly well. He wouldn't have sent those pictures to anyone himself, but he didn't mind that Jane had. _It makes sense,_ he thought to himself, _they're friends. And Patterson did help her find the bathing suit in the first place._

"Um, yeah," Jane replied. She'd wondered if he'd caught that, and how he would react. "She helped me pick this out," she looked down at her bikini, suddenly a little self-conscious, "and asked me to send her a picture…" She trailed off, then looked at him guiltily, before adding, "Sorry, I probably should've asked you…"

He chuckled at her sudden apparent nervousness, leaning down to kiss the top of her bare shoulder. "It's fine," he assured her, "I was just wondering." _It wasn't as though what happened at the beach was going to stay at the beach…_ he thought. Jane looked at him unsurely for a few more seconds, and he continued to smile at her. "Really, it's fine," he repeated. Slowly, her lips curled back into a smile as well.

"Ready, Uncle Kurt?" Sawyer called. Sarah had been trying to stall him for several minutes, keeping an eye on the pair and wanting them to at least be able to finish the conversation they were having. They were just too damn cute. Her son, however, had no such sympathy for his uncle, and he seemed to have gotten wise to his mother's distraction technique.

Kurt looked up at his nephew and smiled. "Absolutely, buddy." Jane felt his arms squeeze slightly tighter around her waist before letting go, and then she followed him around to the space in the sand on the other side of their towels, where Sawyer was directing him to sit, legs out of front of him.

Settling down in to the sand to get as comfortable as possible, Kurt looked up at his nephew. "What now?" he asked him. Sawyer looked at Kurt seriously, replying. "You have to burrow yourself down into the sand a little bit."

"Should we have buried him in the hole you dug?" Jane asked, interested in how this process worked.

"No," Sawyer replied, having obviously thought about that already. "It's too close to the water, it would have washed the sand on top of him right back off. It has be harder to escape from." Jane nodded, impressed that the eleven year old had thought about this so carefully, but also surprised at how seriously he was taking it.

 _Is the idea that he won't be able to escape on his own?_ she wondered. This was intriguing… But she couldn't imagine that Kurt wouldn't be able to escape from _sand_ , for goodness sake. Not after all the other things she'd seen him do.

"So what next?" Jane asked, having watched Kurt wiggle himself as far into the sand as he could get.

"We need some of the heavier sand from down there, where it's wetter," Sawyer replied. He held out two large buckets to Jane, one of which contained a shovel. She took them, and then he picked up two more and another shovel, heading toward the water.

"I guess I'm following the boss," she said, shrugging at Kurt with a smile as she followed Sawyer.

"See you soon, I hope," he replied, watching her walk dutifully behind his nephew. They were accomplishing two things at once just then – checking another thing off of Jane's long list of things she'd never done, while also spending time with Sawyer. The fact that they could do both at the same time made it even better, as did the fact that Jane and Sawyer got along so well. The boy had always liked her, even back when he hadn't understood who she was, when they'd first met.

They were back in a few minutes, four buckets of heavy, wet sand between them. Sawyer set down his buckets, scooping up as much of the relatively dry sand from around them as he could and pushing it up onto his uncle's legs, filling yet another bucket with dry sand from a few feet away to supplement what he was able to push into a mound on top of Kurt's legs. Then he wasted no time, dumping his buckets of wet sand on top of the dry sand and patting it down.

After watching him carefully, Jane did the same with the buckets of wet sand that she had collected. Even as she paid attention to where she was dumping the sand, she kept glancing back up at Kurt, seeing him watching her in amusement. Suddenly, Sawyer reappeared with two more full buckets of wet sand, and they switched. She went back down by the water to collect more wet sand, and Sawyer took over dumping what he had collected onto his uncle.

This routine continued for quite some time, with Sawyer eventually telling Jane that now they should switch back to dry sand. The mound on top of and around Kurt had become quite substantial, even encompassing the area behind him. Sawyer had determined that the best way to immobilize his hands – which was apparently very important to him, (this, in turn, concerned Kurt slightly about what it said about his nephew) – was to have him lean back against his arms, wiggle his hands down into the sand, and then they would use the same technique of covering them in dry sand, then many layers of wet sand, followed finally by additional partially dry sand. Sarah just watched, laughing to herself, from the towel at the opposite end of the row.

Jane was impressed, she had to admit. Sawyer seemed extremely determined to somehow trap Kurt in the sand. She supposed it must have been some sort of supreme challenge. His uncle, after all, was an almost larger than life FBI agent. If he could trap such an unstoppable figure by burying him in the sand… well, that would be like a dream come true for Sawyer, she supposed. She wished that she had some sort of expertise to offer him, but she supposed that being a willing helper was enough to make the boy happy. As she watched him work, she couldn't help but see how much he was enjoying himself.

Kurt, likewise, seemed more than happy to be his nephew's guinea pig, sitting still despite how very long they took to pile sand on top of him, not complaining once, looking perfectly happy where he was. She was suddenly flooded with affection for him once more. Despite the serious demeanor he displayed at work, he really did have a soft spot for the few people that he cared about – most of whom happened to be around him just then.

Finally, after Jane had long since lost count of how many buckets of sand they had hauled up with which to cover Kurt, Sawyer finally declared that they were officially finished. Before Kurt attempted to move, Sarah and Jane both took pictures of their efforts for posterity, with Sarah revealing that she had actually also taken some as they'd been working. Jane again received a notification from Sarah's phone – it turned out that the other woman sent her a particularly cute picture of Sawyer pouring wet sand diligently onto the pile around Kurt's arms, behind him, while Jane knelt beside the mound of sand covering his legs.

The biggest thing that Jane noticed about the picture was that Kurt seemed to be watching her intently, and she was starting back at him with the same expression. There were at least three feet between them, and yet, it was clear from the picture that at that moment, neither of them was conscious of anything but each other. She couldn't help but smile as she stared down at her screen, then looked up at Sarah, who was once again watching her for her reaction.

"That's a pretty amazing picture," Jane told her. Sarah just nodded.

"Thanks," Sarah replied simply, giving her a knowing smile.

Jane looked over at Sawyer, who was sulking slightly and hopping up and down, waiting for his mom and Jane to be done taking pictures already, so they could watch Uncle Kurt try to escape. "Tell me when, Sawyer," Kurt told him nephew.

"Okay… go!" the boy called dramatically. With that, Kurt started wiggling under the sand to determine just how much effort he was going to have to expend in order to get himself out of the giant pile that had been dumped on top of him. He found that the sand was actually more difficult to move than he'd originally expected, but it certainly wasn't impossible. Still, he didn't want to break out of Sawyer's hard work _too_ fast… There was more give in the sand around his hands, probably because the bulk of the sand was concentrated on his legs, and he focused on moving his right first, freeing it in an overly dramatic show of triumph before moving on to work on his left hand, which he pretended gave him more trouble than his right.

Sawyer sat and watched, not having really expected to trap his uncle in the sand, despite holding out the faint hope of doing so, and enjoyed the fact that he was at least being entertaining about his escape. The grin on his face was precious, and Jane made sure she got a picture of Sawyer before turning her attention back to Kurt and his exaggerated escape attempt. The answer to whether any amount of heavy sand could stop Kurt Weller was, as she'd expected, _no_. The fact that he'd been willing to let Sawyer try, however, said a lot about the kind of guy he was.

She looked down at her phone, surprised at how much time had elapsed. They'd already been at the beach for more than an hour. _Where is the day going?_ she thought. There were still more than twenty four hours before they were set to leave, and yet… the clock was running out far faster than she wanted it to. Securing her phone back in the inside pocket of the beach bag, she looked back up at Kurt, who was just standing up, every inch of him that had been buried now coated in sand. It took more than a little bit of effort not to laugh.

He glanced down at himself, then out at the waves, which were far calmer than they'd been the day before, then back to Sawyer, then Sarah, then finally, Jane. "Think I might need to rinse the sand off of me," he said as the others nodded in agreement. It was something of an understatement. "Anyone want to go swimming?" She couldn't help but smile, thinking that there weren't many places that she _wouldn't_ go with him, and at that moment, she couldn't think of any of them.


	13. Better

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: Once upon a time, my average chapter length was about 2,500 words. Then somewhere over the course of this year, thanks to Blindspot, I started writing these monster chapters. Now, at about 5,300 words or so, this one feels short. Which just goes to show that I can't get enough Blindspot._

"Anyone want to go swimming?" he asked them.

Seeing her smile, he already knew her answer, but he let the others answer first. Sawyer was the first to reply, jumping up and down in the sand. "Yes! Let's go!" he shouted. He was _always_ happy to go in the water.

"No, thanks, I'm good," Sarah replied, once again perfectly happy to take the break where she could get it. She figured that Jane and her brother would be disappearing off by themselves again at some point, anyway – which she was absolutely fine with – so she might as well take advantage of the rest while she could.

Kurt walked up to Jane, who was standing nearby, chuckling quietly at him. He really was _covered_ in sand… She watched him hold out a sand-covered hand towards her upper arm, surprised at how rough it felt when he laid it against her skin. Rubbing back and forth on her arm slowly, he said, "There's some exfoliation for you." Looking at Sawyer he said, "Which means removing the outer layer of dead skin cells – which rubbing sand against your skin does, because the sand is so rough. Some people pay a lot of money to have that done." He figured that Jane may or may not remember the concept of exfoliation, but chances were the Sawyer didn't know, so he could tell him, and that way if she didn't know, now she did. Plus, it had been an excuse to make contact with her.

Turning back to Jane and looking at her with his thousand watt smile, he asked, "So, are you coming in the water with us?" His hand was still on her arm, and she felt warmth flowing from that spot, through her whole body.

 _What?_ she thought to herself. _And give this up? I'm not crazy._

She pretended to think it over, but she didn't have much of a poker face, and it was pretty obvious that she was just barely holding in a smile. After about half a minute, during which she watched Sawyer hop up and down in anticipation, she finally smiled and leaned just a little closer to him. As she did, though she wasn't even sure why it caught her attention, she heard a cough from off to one side of them, maybe ten feet away at the most. She turned to look in the direction of the sound, and found a middle aged brunette, wearing a dark blue bikini that was at least three sizes too small for her, staring blatantly at Jane, elbowing the man standing beside her to get his attention. The woman looked at her dismissively from head to toe, her expression changing to disgust.

Jane tried to smile at her, but this time her smile faltered. The woman had several tattoos herself, visible on her arms and back, and yet she was looking at Jane as if she was a piece of _garbage_. Kurt had followed Jane's line of sight to see what had suddenly distracted her, catching up with the silent conversation between the two women within a few seconds. He tugged at her hand, but she didn't turn toward him. Instead, she glanced around, her eyes sweeping from the woman to other people standing nearby. Of course, they weren't _all_ watching her, but at that moment, it felt as if they were.

His first response was anger. After all, what right did that woman have to glare at Jane that way? She was just standing there minding her own business. But he quickly pushed that down, remembering their conversation and watching Jane's reaction. Of course he was angry, but his getting angry wouldn't help her. Even if that woman deserved it, which she obviously did, it wouldn't solve anything. The best thing to do was to get her away from the starting contest the two of them seemed to be having.

 _Calm… right. For Jane_ , he thought.Still, it was anything but easy.

"Jane," he said, leaning towards her quickly as he attempted to shift her attention to him. "Come with us down to the water." His voice was low but almost urgent then. It took a few seconds, but she finally turned to look at him. The expression on her face surprised him, reminding him of someone who had been slapped. The only thing missing was a telltale red mark.

"Of course," she said quietly, seeming to deflate before his eyes. He squeezed her hand tightly, trying to convey his thoughts through it as they followed Sawyer out into the water. _Focus on me_ , he silently willed her, still wishing that confronting the woman had been an option.

She tried to push their faces out of her mind, she really did… this time, however, it just wasn't working. Even as she walked with Kurt, even as she felt him squeeze her hand, she still saw them there. Even though she knew that they were only two people, and that their opinions meant no more than anyone else's, she couldn't shake the feeling she'd gotten from looking into that woman's eyes.

" _If they're looking, it's because you make the rest of us look bad, Jane. And if they're being nasty, it's because they're jealous."_

Sarah's words echoed in her head, but somehow they sounded hollow. Not that she thought that Sarah would have lied to her, of course. She knew that the other woman sincerely believed them, and she knew that _she_ should believe them. Still, somehow it just wasn't that easy.

They walked slowly out into the slow moving water, keeping an eye on Sawyer while also looking out for any incoming waves, trying to determine how far into the water they should go. The water lapped gently at their legs, coming up almost as high as their knees so far. As far as Kurt's goal of washing the sand off of him, however… well, there was still a lot of sand left.

They were still walking slowly behind Sawyer when Kurt finally broke the tense silence between them. "Are you—" he started, but she interrupted him before he had a chance to finish.

"I'm fine," she replied, far more harshly than she'd intended, obviously determined to make herself believe it. Looking back up at him, surprised even at _herself_ for her tone, she took a deep breath and tried again. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely, "I didn't mean to snap at you…" Her voice broke, and to her dismay she felt tears stinging behind her eyes. Whatever else she'd been planning to say, nothing else came out.

He shook his head in reply, tugging her hand to pull her to a stop, then turned and leaned down to kiss her forehead. Leaning back again, his eyes locked onto hers for several seconds, searching them. Already, she felt the tension begin to drain from her. She focused on breathing evenly, on the water around her, and most of all, on Kurt. Her heartrate was decelerating, but what was replacing the adrenaline that had coursed through her system for that short time felt, sadly, like defeat.

 _No,_ she thought, _one woman isn't going to dictate how you feel about yourself._ Still, that was easier said than done.

Glancing down at the sand that was only very slowly washing off of his legs in the water, he saw that there was a lot of rinsing left to go. The water wasn't nearly deep enough yet, so they kept walking, wading out further than they had the previous day because the water was so much calmer. Finally, they caught up with Sawyer, who had stopped and was looking around. The water was almost up to his shoulders, so it hit Jane and Kurt somewhere between waist and chest levels.

"Every time people go much farther out than this, the lifeguard blows the whistle at them," he remarked.

"Well then, I guess this is as far as we go," Kurt said, looking out at the water. There really weren't any big waves to speak of. It was strange that this was the same ocean they'd been in the day before, when the waves had been so big and had rolled in constantly. He looked at Jane, who was scanning the area nearby, not looking at the water but at the _people_ in the water. There was a hint of a smile plastered on her face, but he knew her well enough to know that it was forced. Deciding to try to kill two birds with one stone, he lowered himself down into the water, his hand tugging down on hers.

When she felt the tug on her hand as he lowered himself into the water, she knew exactly what he was doing, and she followed gratefully. As far as she had come in the past two years, as much as she'd demonstrated her healthy attitude towards the stares she got, and as much as she'd told Sarah and Kurt that she was _fine_ with it all, that she could smile at the people who were so rude to her… there were still some times when it was all just a little too much. This was one of them.

So she stood with her knees bent, allowing herself to be submerged in the water just past her shoulders, with only the top of the bird tattoo on her neck visible. _You're okay_ , she reminded herself, knowing that that was exactly the message that Kurt had been sending her without words for the past few minutes.

Kurt had momentarily let go of her hand so that he could scrub the sand off of himself. He stood just beside her, though it seemed to him that he was much too far away. After working for a few minutes, he held his arms out of the water to examine them, looking satisfied.

Just like she had the day before, Jane appreciated the sudden anonymity that came with submerging her tattoos under the water. It came as even more of a relief just then as it had the previous day. Even if it was only for a few minutes, it was nice not to feel like everyone was staring at her. It was the closest she came to feeling like everyone else. The only other time she got this feeling being when it was cold enough outside for her to wear clothes that covered her tattoos. Sighing, she looked up in Kurt's direction, finding that he had moved closer to her. At that moment, one of his hands landed on her stomach and pulled her closer to him. She did her best to smile at him, though it felt hollow.

He'd been watching her carefully, doing his very best to remain calm – for her sake. With most of the sand now scrubbed off of him, he returned his full attention to Jane, who appeared to be a little less self-conscious now that they'd ducked down into the water. Still, tension was written all over her face. Without a second thought, he reached for her, tugging her towards him and feeling his heart ache as he watched her try to smile at him. _Try_ being the operative word.

She let herself lean against his shoulder and continued to breathe slowly and deliberately. _There are so many ways that things could be worse_ , she reminded herself, trying to keep things in perspective. Most of all, if she didn't have Kurt beside her.

Just then, they heard Sawyer calling excitedly from only a few feet away, "Hey! You guys! Oh my _gosh_! Uncle Kurt! Jane! _Look!_ " They looked up to see what the fuss was about, because Sawyer seemed to have said everything _except_ what he was talking about so far, when he finally go to the point. "Look at the _dolphins_!" he cried.

Taken by surprise, his grip on her relaxed slightly as they both quickly looked in the direction that Sawyer was pointing, standing back up to their full heights to get a better view. Suddenly, the air around them was abuzz with excitement, as people called out to each other, pointing and trying to get a good look as well. While they weren't quite _near_ the dolphins from where they stood, they had a much better view than the people on the beach did, and there was no mistaking it – there was definitely a pod of dolphins swimming by, their backs visible above the surface of the water a few at a time. From where they stood, Jane, Kurt and Sawyer were closer to the animals than they were to the shore behind them, which was both strange and exciting.

There were murmurs of excitement, even various shouts similar to Sawyer's, all around them. Though she knew that it was silly, Jane couldn't help but feel a little bit sorry for the dolphins. She knew what it was like to be the center of everyone's frenzied attention. At the same time, it was a momentary relief to feel like everyone's eyes were on something else besides _her_.

And then, just like that, the dolphins were no longer visible, having submerged themselves again as they swam away. "Wow," Jane said in disbelief. "That was…"

"That was so awesome!" Sawyer called loudly. "I'm going to go tell my mom!" With that, he started back toward the beach, unintentionally splashing a large area around him in his hurry to get out of the water and tell Sarah what they'd just seen.

Jane's eyes lingered on the water in the direction where the dolphins had last been visible, momentarily envious that the dolphins could just disappear back out into the ocean after causing such a stir. She, on the other hand, had to return to land, where she was constantly judged. Shaking herself from her reverie, she glanced back at Kurt.

Pulling her closer once again, he smiled at her, then looked over his shoulder at the pier sticking out into the water in the distance. Instead of asking her if she was okay, he asked, "Do you want to walk down to the pier?" What he'd seen in the past few minutes had already given him the answer to whether or not she was okay, and he thought maybe a walk might help. There was no escape from people in general, but maybe the walk would be enough of a change of scenery to make her feel better.

"Is there something to see down there?" she asked curiously, glad for a distraction.

"I don't know, he replied. "We can find out."

She smiled at him, more genuinely then than the forced smile he'd seen on her face for the past few minutes, nodding her head. "Okay, why not?" she asked. "It's nice not to be the only one who doesn't know something for a change."

He looked back at her, pausing for a few seconds, and she registered a certain amount of surprise and sympathy mixed into his smile. She hadn't been kidding when she'd said that, nor had she been trying to elicit his sympathy. As far as she was concerned, it was simply reality. The reality was that a lot of the time, even now, people around her were introducing her to things that they knew and she didn't. It happened far less than it used to, but it still happened.

Sometimes he forgot, because it had been so long since Jane had shown up in Times Square, and because most of the time these days she seemed so well adjusted to the life she'd made for herself, that things could still be hard for her. She would probably always deal with the feeling of being different from everyone else, if for no other reason than her tattoos. He couldn't begin to imagine how frustrating it must feel to need to constantly be taught things that everyone else around her already knew.

He held onto her tighter, hoping to convey something that he couldn't even quite articulate in his own head. He wanted nothing more than to make it all okay for her, just as he always had, hating that she felt different because she still needed to be given context in certain situations.

Shaking her head, she tried to minimize the impact of what she'd said, only then realizing how seriously he'd taken it. "It's not a big deal," she murmured, looking away, but she felt Kurt watching her. His arms fell from around her waist, his right hand finding her left as they both turned in unspoken agreement and began walking toward shore. Jane swore that he was holding her hand just a little more firmly than usual.

That wasn't a bad thing, of course. On the contrary, she took the gesture exactly as it was intended. Comfort. Support. It was one of the things she loved about him. He seemed to know when something was bothering her and how to make her feel better without being given very much, if any, information. He just _knew._ Somehow it had always been that way between them.

Jane tensed as they walked back up onto the beach, her eyes darting from one person to the next. There was no sign of the woman who'd been so rude to her a little while before, and she breathed a sigh of relief. Still, there was no guarantee that that meant that there wasn't someone else who would behave just as badly. Despite the fact that she knew her bathing suit fit her well, part of her couldn't help but long to just have her clothes back on.

Sarah looked up at them as they approached, Sawyer having just finished telling her about the dolphins they'd seen, in as much detail as he could remember. She held up her hand to shield her eyes against the sun, which was almost straight overhead. "I hear you guys saw some dolphins," she said to them, glancing at their joined hands and then back up, from one of them to the other.

"We did," Jane said, her smile slightly more forced than it had been a moment before. "We were in the right place at the right time." As much as she liked Sarah, she had no desire to make small talk just then, and she was glad that Kurt had suggested the walk to the pier.

"We're going to wander down to the pier and see what's down there," Kurt told his sister, "We'll be back."

"Okay, but you should take your stuff just in case," Sarah replied. "That way, if we decide to do something else in the meantime, I'm not abandoning it on the beach." They nodded, thinking that that made sense. Jane felt him squeeze her hand, then let go of it so that they could gather their things.

Jane, still feeling the desire to cover her tattoos just then, but too wet to put her clothes back on yet, wrapped her towel around herself, securing the end as best she could but knowing that it would be falling down again any minute. _Kurt can always help you with that again,_ she thought to herself, but even that though couldn't quite make her smile. She put her clothes into their green beach bag, and Kurt threw his t-shirt in the bag as well. He draped his now-damp towel over his shoulders, as he'd done the night before, not wanting to put it in the bag with their dry clothes. Leaving Sarah the towel bag to use for their things, they picked up their sandals and, satisfied that they had everything else they'd brought with them, they waved to Sarah and Sawyer.

"See you guys in a while," Sarah called, again looking at them with a knowing smile as they walked away.

"She keeps grinning at us," Jane observed as they walked toward the boardwalk, Kurt's hand sliding around the back of her to its now familiar position on her opposite shoulder.

"And with good reason," Kurt replied, without missing a beat, "We are pretty good looking." She chuckled, only then realizing that her own arm had already slid around his back without her even being conscious of it. Her towel had already begin to fall from where she'd secured it, and she gripped it tightly with her other hand, her sandals dangling in front of her. After a momentary break, her frustration level had begun to rise once more. She had the sudden urge to be somewhere besides the beach, where she could reasonably be dressed in pants and long sleeves, and not deal with the looks she got from wearing a bathing suit, especially such a revealing one. Enough was enough.

He looked down at her as she attempted to hold up her towel and hold her sandals in the same hand, noting the tension in her face. "Let's get up to the boardwalk, and I'll help you with your towel, if you want," he offered, to which she nodded gratefully, walking on as the resistance against her feet grew with the increasingly dry sand.

A few minutes later, they found themselves standing along the familiar railing at the edge of the boardwalk. Though not in exactly the same spot they'd been in the night before, and though Jane was the one with her back to the railing this time, the feeling was remarkably similar – which meant that suddenly, the air between them once again felt as charged with electricity as it had the previous night when they'd stood there in the rain. Looking up into his eyes, she almost forgot the things that were frustrating her. _Almost_.

She'd set the bag and her sandals down beside her as soon as they'd stopped, and she was now just gripping her towel tightly with both hands. She had it wrapped around the top of her, and it reached just far enough to hide her bikini from top to bottom, which amounted to not quite half of what she wished she could hide – which was all of her.

"Is that where you want it fastened?" he asked her, indicating the space just below her collarbone, where she clutched the towel. The day before, he'd helped her secure it at her waist. Today, however, thanks in part to the exceptional rudeness of the woman on the beach, she seemed to feel significantly more uncomfortable in the bikini that looked so gorgeous on her. He was still angry about it, to be sure, but he focused on being calm, and helping her be calm as well. Looking at her intently, he waited for her to meet his eyes and hoped that he could transfer some of what he was thinking to her.

Jane just nodded without looking up, a small, tired sigh escaping her against her will. It was exhausting, having people stare at her all the time and having to work so hard to convince herself not to care. The more of her tattoos she showed, the more they stared. This was a side effect of coming to the beach that she hadn't thought to anticipate.

Her sigh hadn't escaped his attention, and neither did the fact that she wasn't meeting his eyes. He looked down at her, his smile softening. Frustration was visible in her face, though she was clearly fighting it. He reached up and gently took the edges of the towel from her in one hand, covering as much of her hands with his as he could, and wrapping his other arm around her so that he could pull her into a hug. She exhaled slowly, with a little bit of a shudder, still not looking at him, and instead leaned forward until her forehead was against his shoulder.

The hand on her back was tracing small circles over his own name, though he couldn't actually see the skin below his fingers to know that. She focused on that sensation and nothing else, and gradually felt her frustration leave her. After a time, she leaned back slowly, finally looking up at him. Her smile was slight and tinged with sadness, but it was there, he noted with satisfaction. He smiled back at her, then leaned down to kiss her forehead. After pausing there for a few seconds, he slowly unwound his arm from her back and began to fix her towel as he'd promised.

He took the top edge of the fabric in both hands, and she removed her hands from the area so he could work, instead, like she had the day before, reaching up and resting her arms on his shoulders, then slowly adjusting their position until her hands rested on the back of his head. He held onto the ends of her towel, momentarily unable to move, as her fingers combed through his hair and against his scalp.

He was surprised, for a second, at how hard it was to retain his focus as soon as her fingers found his skin. "You're very distracting," he mumbled, which made her smile. This did not go unnoticed by him, and he was glad that she'd found something to focus on besides the things that were upsetting her – doubly glad, because what she was focusing on was _him_.

Meanwhile, he'd pulled the towel more tightly around the top of her, securing one end as well as the section that wrapped around her left side with the index finger and thumb on his right hand, the back of his thumb against the skin directly under her arm. She swore she felt him move his thumb just a tiny bit against her skin, and again, it was as though electricity shot through her.

"You're pretty distracting herself," she replied, fairly sure that he knew _exactly_ what he was doing. He just grinned, winking at her mischievously.

With his left hand, he pulled the other end of the towel tight, and once he'd done that, he was able to let go of the part that he'd secured first, though she swore he did so extra slowly. He tucked the end of the towel that ended up on the outside tightly under the tautly pulled fabric a few inches from her left shoulder, letting his fingertips rest against her skin beneath the top edge of the towel for several more seconds than necessary before slowly withdrawing them, his hands settling on the bare skin of her shoulders.

He looked back up at her, and though she looked more relaxed than she had a few minutes before, he was still concerned. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked.

She breathed deeply, looking down at his towel draped over his shoulders rather than at his face. Her smile morphed into more of a grimace as he felt her hands stiffen slightly on his neck, then drift down to his shoulders. "It gets old," she said without looking up, "the stares. The whispers."

Again making a conscious effort to stay calm at just the thought of the people who had been so rude to Jane not only the day before, but also just a short time ago, he said what he had a feeling she was thinking. "Or," he added, "people's blatant rudeness." She nodded.

He sighed, knowing there was no easy answer. "I know that I may not be completely objective here," he started, pausing as she chuckled. He had _never_ been objective when it came to Jane, even for those few days a long time ago when that had been his stated goal, and they both knew it. "But those people are idiots. It's sad that they don't realize how rudely they're acting… and I know that it's easy to say, but it's the truth – that's a reflection on _them_ , not you, Jane." His voice was soft and sincere, and she nodded, but still didn't look back up.

Logically, she knew that he was right, though that didn't necessarily make it all easier to deal with them. "Hey," he said, waiting for her to look up at him. It took a minute, but finally she did. "I told you before. You're beautiful…" Though there was uncertainly in her eyes, she smiled, despite the conflicting urge to cry that she also felt at the same time. "And I feel sorry for anyone who can't see that," he added.

She paused, smiling but wincing at the same time and trying to let his words sink in, though it felt as though her mind was fighting against letting herself believe them. Taking a deep breath, she said, "I've been over and over it with Borden. I'm as good with things as I'm going to get, I think, at least for now. Some days it just gets to me more than others, I guess." She paused, her eyes darting around again quickly before returning to focus on him once more. "Those people staring… making comments… There's _always_ going to be people like that," she said as she shrugged her shoulders, looking at him steadily. "I just have to make peace with it."

"You say that like it's easy," he replied sympathetically, his thumbs moving soothingly against her collarbone. "You have to give yourself a break, and remember to give yourself credit for how hard you're trying. Besides, whatever you _think,_ you are stronger on your weakest day than almost anyone I've ever met."

Looking down again, her voice dropped to almost a whisper. "Then how come half the time I feel like I'm about to break into a million pieces?"

"But that's one of the things I love about you," he told her, "that you can be _both_ at the same time. It's part of what makes you Jane." She shook her head, and he could see that she didn't see that as the strength that he did. Looking as if a thought was forming inside her head that she was trying to articulate, she opened her mouth to speak, but didn't know quite what she wanted to say.

Not wanting her to get the chance to argue with him on this one, he instead tried to distract her by lightening the tone of the conversation. "Those people… do you want me to punch any of them for you?" he asked her jokingly. "Not," he added quickly, "that you couldn't take care of them yourself." That made her smile, genuinely that time.

"No, thanks, that's… _sweet_ … of you," she replied quietly with a smile.

He leaned down to kiss her, and when he moved back to look at her a few seconds later, the tension was gone from her face.

"Okay?" he asked simply.

"Yes," she replied as he pulled her into a tight hug.

"Then let's go for a walk to the pier, and see what's there," he replied, reluctantly stepping back from her. They slipped their sandals back on and she reached down to pick up the beach bag, pushing it up onto her left shoulder. When she had the bag settled, he draped his arm across her shoulders, pulling her right side into his left as they began walking amidst the crowds on the boardwalk.

"Better?" he asked, turning to look at her and leaning the side of his face against her temple.

She nodded, leaning against him, because it was. _Everything_ was better when he was there.


	14. Shattered

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: I realized that I haven't mentioned lately just how wonderful you guys are for leaving me such kind reviews. Thank you so much! It makes writing this story even more fun than it already is. MonkeyPajamas, you are the Queen of Reviews (as you already know)._

She didn't feel like there were quite _as many_ whispers following her down the boardwalk once the towel was secured around her. Granted, there were still a lot of tattoos showing, but not as many. Then again, maybe it was all just in her head. After all, that that was also a distinct possibility. She leaned into Kurt further, pushing it all from her mind. His proximity made it easier to do just that, at least for a few minutes.

By now, the boardwalk was crowded with people, both crossing to the beach with towels, coolers and umbrellas, and those walking along the wide cement strip in front of the long string of hotels that overlooked the water. With so many people crowded together around her, crossing in front of each other at random intervals, she felt that she stuck out less in the ensuing chaos. Therefore, the busy boardwalk was far preferable to her than the less crowded one she'd experienced the day before.

At one point, they heard a loud _boom_ echoing above them. When they looked up in search of the source of the sound, as did most people around them, they spotted a jet that looked far too small and too far away to be making such a loud noise. If either of them had wanted to comment on it, however, they wouldn't have been able to, because all they could hear was the deafening roar of the jet's engine. It was at least ten seconds, until the jet had passed overhead and flown behind the hotels and out of sight, before either of them could hear anything else.

"I don't know how people can get used to that, living here and hearing at all the time," Jane said, shaking her head.

Of course, this comment coming from Jane was amusing, because she was the poster child for the idea that a person could get used to almost anything. After all, the idea that a woman whose memory had been erased, having had a terrorist organization cover her in cryptic puzzle tattoos and deliver her to the FBI as a sleeper agent for their cause could get used to all _that_ and end up living an even somewhat well-adjusted life… well, he was pretty sure that jet noise would be an easier thing to get used to living with.

Kurt just shrugged slightly. "I think most people can get used to most things, given enough time," he replied. She glanced up at him, a puzzled expression on her face, wondering if he was talking about something specific.

 _Is he talking about… me?_ she wondered. She didn't ask, and he just smiled at her.

 _And yet_ , he thought, _here she is beside me, doing just that_. She was carrying on with her life the best she could and dealing with the things that went along with it as they came. Because what other choice was there, after all? Either you dealt with it, or you fell apart. Sometimes, all you could do was keep putting one foot in front of the other and go on, and he'd certainly been _there_ – for a good portion of his life. After the past few years, there were times when he was _still_ there, in the "okay but not quite okay" mindset. He imagined that she probably thought she was the only one who felt this way, not having anything with which to compare her life over the past few years. But as he knew from experience, most people felt that way, at least from time to time – even if it wasn't quite to the same extreme.

It didn't seem necessary to bring all that up to her, however, because if she wasn't already thinking about it, then why put it into her mind? So he just smiled at her… looking at her made him smile, so that part was easy.

The walk toward the pier was slow, since no one around them was in a hurry and many of them had children in tow, but yet again, that didn't bother either of them. The point really wasn't the destination, but the fact that they were going there together.

They were walking along the right side of the boardwalk, passing close in front of benches that were spaced at regular intervals, facing the ocean. At one point, as they approached one particular bench, Jane became conscious of a little girl with dark hair and dark eyes who was watching her from a bench as they walked by. She couldn't have been more than four or five years old. The girl was staring at Jane, but not in disgust or shock or any of the other expressions that Jane had become so accustomed to pretending to ignore. No, this little girl was looking at Jane in innocent wonder, almost reverence. Jane smiled at the girl as they slowly walked past her, and the girl broke out into one of the happiest smiles that Jane had ever seen. That alone was enough to keep Jane smiling even after they'd walked past the little girl.

Less than a minute later, Jane and Kurt both heard a voice calling, "Grace!" somewhere faintly behind them over the chaos, but thought nothing of it. There were families with children running around everywhere, and one particular child's name being called didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. But then suddenly Jane felt a small tug from behind her, as if something was pulling gently on the back of the beach bag on her left shoulder. She stopped walking, pulling Kurt to a stop as well, and as she turned around, he did too.

For a second, she didn't see the source of the tug. Then she looked down and saw that same little girl from the bench, standing there staring up at her, her beautiful brown dark eyes fixed on Jane, the same happy smile on her face. A woman was jogging frantically behind her, and within seconds she was standing behind the girl, trying to catch her breath.

"Grace! You can't just run off like that!" the woman admonished the girl, who seemed not to hear her.

"Mommy, look how pretty," the girl said to her mother, pointing at the ink on Jane's arms.

Jane couldn't help but smile, blushing slightly at the little girl's words. The woman smiled at Jane, and said, "She's going through a phase where she draws on herself. A _lot_." Holding up her daughter's arm toward Jane as evidence, faded marker was visible all over the girl's skin, the woman shook her head with a smile. "So obviously, your tattoos are fascinating to her. If she had her way, I think she'd look exactly like yours. But she's a little young for that…"

Jane nodded, smiling, feeling as though she wanted to explain that they were far too much for _her_ as well, but knowing it wasn't a simple enough story to condense for a stranger. She satisfied herself with the nod and smile, which would have to do. "I'm sorry…" Jane replied apologetically, though still smiling, "somehow I don't think seeing me is going to help you break her of that."

The other woman chuckled, smiling down at her daughter. "Maybe not," she said, "but you've given me an idea. Maybe if I invest in some temporary tattoos for her, she'll be willing to stop drawing on herself. Not _quite_ that many, of course." It wasn't a criticism, Jane noted, simply an acknowledgement that the number of tattoos on Jane's arms was a little too much for her young daughter.

"For your sake, I hope so," Jane replied. "Good luck." Then, looking down at the little girl, she said, "Grace, you be a good girl. And no more running away from your mom, okay?" The girl nodded up at her, still looking slightly in awe. Jane couldn't help smiling at her, then back up at the woman. "Have a nice day," Jane told her.

"Thanks, you too," the other woman said, smiling, as Jane turned around. Kurt had been watching the exchange in amusement, and now he slipped his arm back around her shoulders, pulling her close once again.

"Wow," Jane sighed, looking up at him. "She was adorable."

"You're good with kids," he observed.

She just shrugged, shaking her head slightly. "I don't really know any. Except Sawyer, of course," she told him matter-of-factly. "I barely talked to that girl... Grace. I just got lucky that she _liked_ the tattoos." The concept that someone had been drawn to her the way Grace had, because of her tattoos, was simply unfathomable to her. "And that little girl yesterday was all about _you_ ," she reminded him, which made him chuckle.

"Nonetheless, the times that I've seen you with kids have led me to believe that you are good with kids," he insisted. Suddenly her smile looked slightly more forced, and he wondered if he'd put his foot in his mouth. Eager to get it out, if that was indeed what had just happened, he said, "Who knows, maybe you'll have some one day."

"Me?" she asked, slightly shocked by the idea. "I don't know about that…" Her mind was suddenly spinning wildly, not only because Kurt was the one saying this to her, in such an early, undefined stage of… _whatever_ it was that was happening between them, but because, well, how in the world could he think that she would ever be together enough _herself_ for something like that? _She_ still needed things explained to her, for goodness sake. How could he think that she could be the one doing the _explaining_ to a kid?

"Why not?" he asked. "You're kind, compassionate, smart…"

She leaned back and shoved against him slightly in an attempt to get him to stop. " _Stop_ ," she told him. This was _embarrassing_.

"I'm just saying," he told her sincerely, "that I think you'd be good at it."

All she could do was shake her head. This wasn't exactly a topic she'd ever thought about, and it seemed like a dangerous conversation to be having with him, of all people. Despite how sweet he was being, she desperately wanted to change the subject, so she said simply, "Thanks," hoping he'd leave it at that. Seeing her obvious discomfort, he chuckled and let the subject drop. He'd gotten his point across.

When they reached 15th street, where they'd turned right towards Pacific Avenue to go to the amusement park the day before, they turned left onto the wooden ramp and walked under the large sign that read "Virginia Beach Fishing Pier." There was a plain enough looking restaurant and a few small shops, one of which sold what looked like pretty much the same assortment of souvenirs geared towards tourists that they'd seen in the windows of most of the other souvenir shops. One of them, however, was more unique. Peering inside they saw shelves of items made out of seashells, from the very tiny to the very large. Along the walls were bins and bins of shells of all shapes and sizes as well.

Kurt didn't even need to ask her if she wanted to go in, it was obvious from looking at her face. He pulled his arm reluctantly off of her shoulders and pushed the door open, holding it for her, and she simply smiled at him for a second and walked past him into the store. Within a few seconds he was beside her again, taking her hand as she walked slowly along the shelves of merchandise. The things that people had made out of shells – from tiny figures of sea animals to intricate decoration on large jewelry boxes, wind chimes, picture frames – was astounding. You name it, it seemed to be there.

When they had admired them all, they wandered to the bins of loose sea shells along the wall, Jane stopping to examine each different type. There was a bin brimming with the tiniest shells Kurt had ever seen, to a giant bin that held only a few large conch shells at the far end of the wall, and just about every size and type of shell in between.

A young woman with dark hair wandered over in their direction and greeted them, asking if she could help them with anything. Her accent sounded Eastern European, if Kurt wasn't mistaken, and he imagined that she was probably one of the many international summer employees that came to work in so many different beach towns along the East Coast during the tourist season.

"We're just looking, thank you," Jane replied pleasantly. Then, before the woman had a chance to walk away, she asked her, "Where do all these shells come from? They're certainly not from _this_ beach. Unless someone picked up literally _every single one of them._ " The woman laughed pleasantly. If she had a dollar for every tourist who came into the shop lamenting the lack of good, collectible shells along the beaches of Virginia Beach, she'd have been a rich woman indeed.

"No," she agreed, "they're not from here. I'm not sure where they all come from. I do know that they're real shells, though. I'd imagine that they come from many different places, with so much variety." Jane and Kurt both nodded, looking back and forth at the long wall of shells. It was definitely an impressive selection.

"Let me know if you need any help," the woman said, walking back toward the cash register.

"Here's something you should try," Kurt told Jane after the woman had walked away, steering her back towards the large conch shells at the far end of the wall. He picked up the biggest one from the bin, and held it out to Jane. "Hold this up to your ear."

She looked at him skeptically, confused as to why he'd tell her to do this, but took the shell from him.

"Why? Does the shell have something to say?" she joked.

He just shook his head at her. "Just do it," he told her. "You'll see."

 _Why not?_ she thought to herself, and slowly lifted the shell towards her ear. As soon as it was close, she began to hear a familiar _whooshing_ sound. He watched in amusement as she gasped, holding the shell back for a moment to look inside it, then holding it back against her ear and looking at _him_ as if he had performed an amazing magic trick and she wanted to know how.

"It's… it sounds like the _ocean_ ," she said, her voice full of wonder. "But…. _How?_ "

"It has something to do with the air flow, and the way it moves through the shell," he replied. "I don't know exactly, but… that's something that's always fun to discover."

"That's… amazing," she said, nodding, and carefully replacing the shell back in the bin.

He took a step closer to her, taking her hands lightly in his. "Sorry, I know that we didn't come down here to have me explain things to you…" There was laughter in his eyes, and he leaned a little closer to her.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes at him, but with a smile. "Don't start," she whispered, her head tilting down slightly as she chuckled, so that he couldn't help but plant a kiss on her forehead before standing up again. He dropped one of her hands so they could walk side by side, and they started toward the door of the shop when something caught Jane's eye, causing her to stop in her tracks and turn towards it. On the wall by the cash register, she suddenly found herself in front of a bin full of brightly colored pieces of… something. She couldn't identify it, but it was beautiful.

Kurt stopped beside her, looking back and forth from the contents of the bin to Jane's face, which was full of wonder. She reached her hand into the sea of what looked like colored rocks, sifting through them gently. As they hit against each other, there was a slight clinking sound.

"That's sea glass," said the dark haired woman from behind the counter. It was only then that Jane looked up and saw the sign above the bin that told her the same thing. "Once upon a time, it was regular glass, then it somehow ended up in the ocean – a lot of it used to be glass bottles, or other trash. It was broken down into pieces and smoothed out by a lot of time being eroded up by the waves, and then eventually, it washed up on a beach somewhere and was picked up. Really, the fact that it resurfaced again at all is pretty amazing. And the fact that it used to be just regular glass… and now look at it."

"It's so beautiful," Jane said in amazement. Then, looking back at the woman at the counter, she asked, "There's none of this on this beach, either, is there?"

"Not that I've ever heard of," the woman told her. "Though there _is_ sea glass on the beach in Norfolk, not far from here," she added. "It doesn't look like this, though," the woman continued. "See how this sea glass is frosted?" Jane nodded, listening closely. "Well, it was in the water for quite a while. Years, probably. The sea glass in Norfolk looks more like… well, just little pieces of glass. It wasn't in the ocean long. Some people don't even think it was in the ocean at _all_ , they just think that the pieces of broken glass somehow ended up in the sand because people don't clean up after themselves."

"What do you think?" Jane asked.

"Well," the woman started slowly, "I've been to that beach. The glass is mixed in with the sand, though most of it is pretty high up on the beach… not really near the water. But then again, they cart in sand from other places, because the beaches in this area erode so quickly, so who knows…?"

Jane nodded, looking slightly disappointed as she peered down at the sea glass in front of her, and running her fingers through it again. There was a paper with some information about sea glass taped on the wall above the bin, and she scanned what was written there. Apparently the most common sea glass color was clear/white, as well as brown and green, and the least common were red, orange and yellow.

"A lot of souvenir shops sell manufactured sea glass," the dark haired woman added. "But this is all real."

Jane was sifting through the sea glass now, as though she was looking for something specific. She let go of Kurt's hand so that she could hold pieces of it in one hand and move them in her palm, and then search the bin some more, with the other. As he watched her, he noticed that she was keeping one of each color as she found them, and discarding the rest.

"Starting a collection?" he asked, stepping closer, so that he was once again looking over her shoulder. This time, however, he kept his arms at his sides, and stood just far enough from her that he wasn't touching her at all.

She could feel him standing behind her, despite the fact that he wasn't touching her. Smiling to herself, she nodded and glanced over her right shoulder, where she could see his face close to hers. "Yeah, why not?" she asked.

"Have you found one of each?" he asked, examining the ones in her hand. She had a white, a green, a blue, a brown, a yellow, a purple, and even an orange.

"I don't think there's a red in here," she replied, "but I think I have just about everything else." He reached a hand into the bin beside her, looking through them carefully, and after several minutes he came to the same conclusion.

"Red is really rare," the woman offered helpfully from the counter, "I know someone found one in there yesterday, but that may have been the last one."

Jane nodded, unconcerned. She had a handful of beautiful sea glass in different shapes and sizes, in seven different colors, and she couldn't get upset about missing one particular color. Closing her hand around them, she turned to face Kurt. Because they were standing in a shop and were not alone, he took half a step back, but his smile made her feel as though she was actually being pulled closer to him instead of getting farther away. Brushing his hand with hers as she turned to walk to the counter, she gave him a slight smile over her shoulder.

She put the seven pieces of sea glass down on the counter carefully, turning them each over in turn as the dark haired woman admired them. "The only thing better is finding them on the beach yourself," the woman told her, "but they're still very nice souvenirs to take home with you."

"They're beautiful," Jane agreed quietly, taking out her money. Kurt stood back a few steps and just watched Jane as she paid for the sea glass, the dark haired woman offering her a small, wooden box to put them in for no extra change. Jane smiled, thanking the woman gratefully and then finally, turned to join Kurt as they walked toward the door.

Outside the shop, Jane stepped to the side of the doorway and stopped, opening the box once again. She stared at the frosted glass, looking slightly mesmerized by them, and Kurt couldn't help but smile at her, stopping a few inches to her right and watching her with interest. Her mind was obviously somewhere else, and he wondered exactly what it was about the sea glass that held such a strong attraction for her. They were beautiful, certainly, but it was obviously more than that. She closed the box again, putting it carefully into the beach bag and then smiled up at him.

"Shall we check out the view?" he asked her, stepping closer and nodding toward the small gate, past which the pier extended out into the water.

"Yes," she said, suddenly smiling again after seeming somewhat lost in thought while staring at her sea glass. Wherever she had gone, she seemed calmer now, a little more at peace. If she wanted to talk about it at some point, he was sure that she would.

They approached the gate and, despite Jane's protests, Kurt paid a few dollars for each of them to pass onto the pier. She pulled her face into an expression of mock annoyance, but couldn't keep it up more than a few seconds when he turned his full intensity smile on her, laying his right hand at the base of her neck, just above the towel that was still wrapped around her.

As soon as his hand was on her skin, the familiar sensation of warmth spread from his hand and out through the rest of her body, making her physically unable to do anything _but_ smile. _Damn him_ , she thought. _He knows exactly what he's doing when he does that._

They walked out onto the pier, stopping along the railing to admire the view at the point directly above where the waves were hitting the sand below them. It was a whole different perspective to see it happening from above, rather than _in_ the waves. They were on the right side of the pier, the main part of the beach and most of the tourists behind them, looking out at the shorter end of the beach known as Oceanfront, and the more empty stretch of shore beyond.

The wind was suddenly much stronger than it had been on the shore, though it wasn't as strong as it had been the day before, and both Jane's hair and the ends of her towel began to fly in the breeze, reminding her of when Kurt had held her hair back against her scalp as it had started raining. She blushed slightly at the memory, glad that he wasn't looking directly at her just then.

"Not again!" Jane laughed, looking over her shoulder for Kurt, who was moving behind her to help. He opened the Velcro on the small pocket at the bottom of the leg of this bathing suit, pulling out something small and black that Jane couldn't make out with her hair flying in her face. A few seconds later, he had somehow managed to trap most of her hair, that only seconds before had been flying in every direction, between his hands as he smoothed it along her scalp. The fact that his hands were in her hair again gave her chills, and for a second, she had goosebumps on her skin, despite the warm day. She couldn't see what he was doing, but for a few seconds she felt a gentle pull on the back of her head, and then suddenly, though his hands were suddenly no longer on her, her hair was blissfully contained and out of her face.

 _He just put my hair in a ponytail?_ she thought, completely shocked. She spun around to face him, reaching up with her right hand to inspect and yes! It was as she'd thought. He'd just pulled her hair back and wrapped an elastic around it. As she came face to face with him, she found him grinning proudly.

"Where did you…? I didn't know you knew how to…" she stammered, her surprise rendering her temporarily unable to form sentences. She thought that this might be one of the things he'd done in the two years that she'd known him that had shocked her the _most_. It was also, perhaps, the silliest thing possible to be shocked by, she told herself.

"You're not the only one with hidden talents," he told her, quoting himself from long ago at that same black tie event that she so often thought back to. This time, however, he raised his eyebrows at her playfully, just barely holding back his laughter.

The edges of her towel were still flapping in the wind, threatening to blow away at any moment. He looked down at them, and then at the top edge of the towel, which was still wrapped around her – for the moment. "I don't think there's anything I can do about the towel," he said regretfully. "Is your bathing suit still wet?" She pinched the strap of her bikini top between her index finger and thumb, rubbing them together, and deemed it "dry enough," then repeated the test with the bottom. It wasn't quite as dry, however, with the towel threatening to abandon her in favor of the wild blue yonder at any minute, it seemed smarter not to leave it to chance.

He took the bag from her shoulder, unzipping it and handing her the clothes she'd tucked inside. She stepped into the shorts without a second thought, pulling them up under her towel. T hen, thinking _Here we go again,_ she unfastened the towel and then let him take it from her as she quickly shook her shirt out and lined to up to pull it over her head, pulling it down over herself faster possibly than he'd ever witnessed anyone put on a t-shirt, ever. He frowned at her, taking out his own t-shirt and putting her damp towel inside the bag, adding his own, which had been sitting draped over his shoulders since they'd come out of the water and he'd finished drying off. He pulled on his own t-shirt, then looked down at her intently.

"That was pretty fast," he told her. "You couldn't have gone just a _little_ slower?" He leaned closer to her, his voice lowering so a tone that only she could hear. "You know, for my benefit?" The look she gave him in return was pained for a second, before she rolled her eyes and pretended to punch him in the arm.

"You're terrible," she told him with a groan.

"You're _beautiful,_ " he told her in a whisper. Her face flushed as she looked up at him in surprise. "It's true," he said with a shrug, "So you'd better get used to it." Her smile took over her whole face then, and she shook her head at him. "All of it," he added.

"I… I don't know _how_ to get used to this," she said honestly. After all, this – whatever it was between them – was completely outside of her field of experience. "And besides, how can I…? When we get back…" She stopped midsentence, unable to complete her thought, at least not out loud. She bit her lip, her thoughts have no trouble filling in the words that she couldn't manage to say. _When we get back, things will have to be different. When we get back, you're my boss again. When we get back, we have to work together all day and be professional… When we get back…_ She could feel her pulse suddenly racing. _When we get back, it can't be like this._ It was as simple as that.

She'd been looking at him and smiling one second, and then the next she was staring off into space and frowning worriedly. It didn't take a genius to figure out where her mind had just gone.

"Jane," he said evenly, trying to draw her attention back to him. When she finally looked at him, his expression was serious. He lifted his right hand to her cheek, his eyes not moving from hers. "I love you. No matter what happens when we get back, _that_ will not change." He could see from her face that her emotions were at war inside her, and he could understand why. They'd spent so long dancing around their feelings for each other, and their lack of communication had only led to their not talking about other things, That wasn't to say that the mess with Oscar, with Sandstrom, all of it, had happened because they hadn't talked about their feelings for one another, of course… That would be a gross oversimplification. However, it certainly hadn't _helped_ the situation.

"I know, it took us a long time to get to this point," he said slowly, trying to find the right words. She chuckled, smiling hesitantly. That might have been one of the biggest understatements ever. "But we're here now. And we're not going back. I promise. Okay?"

"Okay," she said quietly. The smile on her face was small but real. Kurt finally let his hand fall from her cheek, then looked down and took her hand. He stroked his thumb across the patterned ink on the back of her left hand, then wrapped her hand in his as they turned and continued walking down the pier. The wind blew this way and that around them, and Jane's hair stayed mostly contained by the elastic that Kurt had pulled it into, with only a few shorter strands escaping from the front.

They reached the end of the pier, where they found an empty bench that faced straight ahead of them, out into the ocean, Another couple had just vacated it, so they sat down before anyone else could. He stretched his arm out behind her on the bench, and she leaned against him, tucking her legs up on the side of her like she'd done in the seat on the Ferris wheel. Had that really only been _yesterday_?

Tucking the loose strand of hair behind her ear, it reminded her of his miraculous ponytail skills, and made her wonder how he'd known how to do it in the first place. And, come to think of it, why had he even had an elastic in his pocket? This was not normal "guy behavior."

"Where did you learn to do ponytails?" she asked him. "Did you have long hair as a kid?" She grinned at him with the ridiculousness of the thought. Kurt Weller with long hair? No, she was sure that had never happened.

He smiled at her suggestion, but she got the sense that he was forcing it. There was something behind his eyes, something off about his smile, that told her that she'd hit a nerve before he himself had said a word.

"Taylor," he said quietly.

Her mouth suddenly went dry, and she sat up straight, looking at him nervously. Taylor wasn't a topic they ventured to if there was no reason to do so. Though she was partially what had bonded them together early on, she was also what had driven them apart so violently later on. "I'm, I'm sorry…" she began, turning to face him and resting her hand on his arm. She was suddenly afraid that every good thing that had happened this weekend was going to go up in a puff of smoke, that somehow he'd be angry with her for making him think about her… She knew that it wasn't necessarily rational, but she couldn't help it. For a second, fear coursed through her, and her wide eyes reflected it.

But despite her fears, his face didn't darken, didn't fill with color, or rage, or even sadness. He looked at her evenly, even smiled a sad smile, and put his hand on top of where she'd laid hers on his arm. "Jane, it's okay," he said. Last year at this time, thinking about Taylor had been agony. He'd spent countless therapy sessions talking about only Taylor, Taylor and Jane, and every possible permutation that involved Taylor and Jane. Yes, it still stung to think about her, but he'd somehow managed to let go of the rage. She would forever be a sweet, beautiful five year old, and that was how he liked to remember her. The rest of it… well it was just like Jane had said earlier about her own demons. Some days it was easier to let go of it than others.

She looked up at him uncertainly, hoping that she hadn't inadvertently opened something in him that he wanted to remain closed. "Her hair was long, and it was always in her face," he said, looking out at the ocean. She watched him, a worried look on her face, but still said nothing. He'd taken her hand off of his arm, and he now held it in his left hand, sitting on his leg.

"Sarah was older than Taylor, and she knew how to do ponytails, of course, so she showed me, gave me a few elastics for Taylor…" he continued. He was there but he wasn't, partially lost in his memories, but there enough to be able to explain them to Jane. "Though Taylor almost never wanted anything in her hair," he chuckled, probably remembering a particular instance or two. "I tried, though, and sometimes she'd let me. I always got the sense, when she did, that she was just humoring me, though. But that was okay."

Unsure of what, if anything, was the right thing to say, she simply sat speechless, looking at their joined hands and rubbing her thumb against the back of his hand. After a few more minutes, during which he continued to stare out at the ocean, she leaned up and kissed his cheek. "So after last night, you brought _my_ elastic along, just in case?" she asked softly. She didn't really even expect him to answer, but it was worth a try.

"Yeah," he said quietly, "I saw in lying there – in the bathroom, maybe? I don't even remember." Jane couldn't remember where she might have left it either, since she so seldom pulled her hair back. "I just thought, if it was windy today, like yesterday…"

"You're too sweet," she told him, squeezing his hand.

"Can I ask _you_ something?" he asked, suddenly looking directly at her, seeming to have come out of his trance-like state.

"Of course," she replied. They'd long ago agreed to answer just about anything the other could ask honestly. There had already been enough lies between them to last a lifetime.

"The sea glass… Does it," he paused, trying to think of the right words. "Does it remind you of something?" She tilted her head curiously, wondering why he was asking that. "You got this far away look in your eyes when you were looking at it. Not sad, but just… I don't know. I couldn't help but wonder."

She nodded slightly, then reached for the bag, which was sitting on the ground by their feet, with her right hand. Carefully retrieving the small wooden box, she let go of his hand and opened the box to reveal the seven pieces of sea glass, which, after gently opening his right hand and turning it palm side up, she laid out carefully in his hand.

He watched her deliberate movements, sure that she had a reason for what she was doing, though so far she hadn't said a word in answer to his question. She gently gripped his hand, one of her hands on each side of his palm that held the sea glass, looking at it. "I don't remember sea glass, from before," she began quietly. "Which I guess is no surprise, considering how many other things I don't remember." The arm that was draped along the bench behind her dropped down onto her shoulders, his hand squeezing her right shoulder, the one farthest from him.

"I guess… I just like the idea of sea glass," she said. "It used to be one thing, something else, that we'll never know about from looking at it now… and then however it happened, it was basically smashed to pieces. If you'd seen it then, you'd have thought it was gone forever... lost to the world…" She paused, looking back down at the colored glass in his palm. "And yet, here it is. The shape is different, even the color is a little different, but it's still here... It was shattered, and then it turned into something _beautiful_ … It's like," she paused again, and looked back up at him, "it got a second chance." She finally looked up at him, not quite smiling, but not quite frowning, either.

He was surprised at the sudden swell of emotion he felt just from listening to her compare sea glass to, without actually saying so, herself. Looking in her eyes, he now understood _exactly_ why she'd bought it, and exactly why she'd seemed so far away when she looked at it. It was _her_.

Closing his hand carefully around the pieces, he cupped it carefully so that he could pour them back into the wooden box. Her hands now available to her, she picked it up from beside her and opened it below his hand, so that the pieces of colored glass dropped gently back inside. After she'd leaned down and secured it safely back in their bag, only then did he turn to face her, lean forward and put his arms around her, pulling her close.

"And so did you," he said, leaning his face down against the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her shampoo. "So did _we_."


	15. Whiplash

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: Okay everyone, after last's night's episode (205) take a deep breath and repeat after me: It's going to be okay. Martin Gero is the ultimate Jeller shipper. This is the part where it gets worse before it gets better. (Repeat as many times as necessary) Now please just wait a few seconds while I repeat that to_ _ **myself**_ _… Consider this chapter a chance to go to your happy place – that's what I'm doing. (This chapter was so long I thought about splitting it, but I took pity on you all, figuring that we need as much of this cuteness as we can get today!)_

 _Also, if you haven't already read it, my friend MonkeyPajamas has started a story that goes along with this one, called Friday Night Gossip. The first chapter of FNG goes along with the beginning of BW, and the second chapter of FNG will actually fit in_ _ **before**_ _this chapter (but never fear, it's fine to read them out of order. I promise you'll still enjoy them!). So be on the lookout for that one as well._

 _For now, forget all about the ugliness happening on the show and how you may or may not want to wring Martin Gero's neck for torturing Jeller and therefore torturing US, and read on… :)_

They sat on the bench at the end of the pier for quite a while, the breeze keeping them cool and making them almost forget that the sun was nearly overhead. She had changed position and now sat facing him, on his right. Sitting sideways on the bench so that her legs were slightly bent and made a bridge over his legs, her feet resting on the bench on the other side of him. She was leaning forward, toward him, her left temple resting against his shoulder and her left arm draped behind him, and her hand absently moving along his neck. His arms rested against her legs and his hands lazily traced the ink on and around her knees.

"We need to think about food," he said, turning his face slightly so that he brushed against her forehead.

"You're _always_ thinking about food," she told him teasingly, not lifting her head from his shoulder. She was so comfortable there, and she really couldn't think of a reason to move… not even food.

"I'm always thinking about _you_ ," he corrected her. She raised her head to look at him, shaking her head and rolling her eyes at him.

"That's _so_ cheesy," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

He looked back at her as if he was extremely offended, but the twinkle in his eyes betrayed him. "Ouch," he said, leaning back to frown at her. "I was going for sweet. Besides, it's _true_." She just shook her head at him, laughing, and then leaned up to kiss him.

Just then, the heard the distinct sound of Kurt's phone as it _ding_ ed in the beach bag, and he reached down to retrieve it. He had a new text from Sarah. Jane scooted a little closer to him – which wasn't technically necessary for her to see the screen of his phone, but she liked the excuse – to read along.

 _We have sandwiches down here if you guys get_ hungry, the text said. A second later, a second bubble popped up. _Don't wait too long though, Sawyer may eat them all._

They both chuckled, and Jane laid her head back down on his shoulder. "Hey," he said, looking down at her in surprise, suddenly stilling his hands flat against her legs, "didn't you see the second text? We need to get back down there. It's not a short walk back there, and _Sawyer's going to eat all the food_."

She sat up once again, biting her lip and trying not to laugh as she looked at him. "We can always get you a hot dog or something." From the look on his face, she could see that her suggestion had _not_ dampened his determination to head back for lunch. "I just made it worse, didn't I?" she asked, immediately regretting the mention of a hot dog. He grinned at her, nodding as he pushed her legs off of his lap, turning her until her feet were on the ground.

Her mouth opened in surprise, and for a second she didn't know how to respond. "Are you choosing food over _me_?" she asked. She was _mostly_ joking, though she was legitimately surprised.

"We _both_ need to eat, even if you've forgotten that part," he said as he stood up, holding his hand out to pull her up after him. "So really, I'm choosing food over no food. I was going to have the pleasure of your company either way, I _think_ … unless there's something you wanted to tell me about your afternoon plans…" He raised his eyebrows at her, and she grinned up at him as she let him pull her up beside him, before remembering that she was supposed to be pretending to sulk over being made to get up.

"Well… if you won't let me just sit here with you, then I suppose I'm going to have to come with you in search of this _lunch_ thing you're so excited about," she replied, pretending that she was doing so only grudgingly. She could only keep a straight face for a few seconds however, and by the time she'd picked up the beach bag from the ground, the smile that she'd been wearing almost all weekend was back, having taken over her face once more.

She pushed the bag back onto her left shoulder, and he took her right hand in his left. She stood and just looked at him for a few seconds as he tugged on her hand, urging her forward, turning back around when she didn't move. He looked at her with a puzzled expression, stepping back towards her. "What's wrong?" he asked, closing the distance between them and leaning closer to her.

"Nothing," she said, but she still didn't move. Her smile had dimmed slightly and she looked slightly preoccupied, as if she was thinking something but didn't want to – or couldn't quite – articulate it.

"You know you're not really not as much like sea glass, as you think, right?" he asked her quietly, suddenly serious. She looked at him curiously, shaking her head and wondering where he was going with this – and how he'd known that she was still thinking about the comparison she'd make of herself to sea glass. Ever since it had come out of her mouth, she hadn't been able to quite get it out of her head.

He leaned his forehead down against hers, holding it there for a few seconds, just concentrating on the feel of her skin against his and nothing else. "Well, like I've already told you, you _are_ beautiful, so that part is right," he conceded, which made her smile and blush slightly. "But you're _not_ broken," he told her quietly. She felt her chest contract slightly, and she exhaled a shaky breath. She _wanted_ to believe it, but just like believing that good things really could happen to her, really believing his words was a little scary. Besides, she _felt_ broken a lot of the time.

"Scratched, maybe, cracked even," he continued, "but _not_ broken. And certainly not in pieces. You shouldn't think of yourself that way." He paused, then added, "I certainly don't."

She stood still, her forehead leaned against his, and found that she didn't know what to say. No, it was more than that. Even if she'd known what to say, she simply couldn't speak. Suddenly, she was having trouble even _breathing_. After all, there was some strange kind of comfort in allowing herself to feel broken – hadn't she been through enough that it was a fair comparison? Feeling broken was easy, or _easier_ , anyway. A defense mechanism. She'd internalized the feeling for so long now, even as her relationship with the team – with Kurt – had slowly healed itself over the past year, and it was simply easier to accept that the events of the past had left her fragmented in some way, the worse for wear.

But _why_? Because no matter how wonderful things felt at that moment, how sweet Kurt had been, there was still the unconscious twinge of doubt. She didn't _believe_ that anything remotely like what had happened before would happen again. She didn't _believe_ that anything would come between them again, she really didn't. Still, somehow she felt like if she allowed herself to let go of that sliver of a doubt completely, anything that _did_ happen would hurt a thousand times worse.

When it came down to it, she supposed that she was afraid to lose what she now had. She'd already seen what that felt like, and she just couldn't go through that again.

He kept his forehead leaned against hers, their hands joined at their sides, and while she hadn't moved since he'd spoken, other than to let her eyes fall closed, he felt a sudden increased tension in her. And because he was Kurt, and he knew her the way he did, he knew that his words were working their way through her brain, and that she was resisting them, but hearing them nonetheless.

He hadn't just been _saying_ what he'd said for the sake of saying it – he really _didn't_ see her as broken. The cracks that might still remain as scars of the past – those were the ones he was working on healing, and he had no intention of stopping until those cracks were gone. There was no reason for her to feel broken, as far as he was concerned. Not anymore.

Sliding his forehead along hers until his left temple leaned against hers, and he could speak almost into her ear once again, he whispered, "Come on, we need to get down there before the food's gone." She couldn't help but smile at the way he'd transitioned from serious back to joking, and she squeezed his hand as she slowly raised her head to look up at him.

"Fine," she told him quietly, "you win." She stared into his eyes for a few extra seconds as the smile returned to her face once again.

"Which part?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Both," she replied simply. _Not being broken_ _ **and**_ _lunch_.

He smiled the Kurt Weller smile that she loved so much, the one that took over his face and that no one ever got but her, and leaned over to kiss her forehead before turning and tugging on her hand. They walked back down the pier towards the shore leisurely, looking at the water and at the beach and the sky. With as many emotional outpourings on both of their parts as there had been on this trip, you'd have thought that they'd been there for weeks, if not more. But there had always been a storm of emotions between them, mostly just below the surface and evident only from the looks they gave each other. This was just them making up for lost time.

Back on the boardwalk, his arm once again draped across her shoulders and hers across his back, they meandered slowly through the crowd, stopping a few blocks before the 25th Street marker to buy four hot dogs from a vendor. Unable to wait, Kurt ate one of the hot dogs before they'd even reached the beach entrance at 25th street, claiming afterwards that he felt "much better." Jane just rolled her eyes and smiled.

On the beach, Sawyer's eyes widened when he saw the hot dogs that his uncle had brought with him. "Who are _those_ for?" he asked eagerly, moving forward without even realizing it.

Kurt laughed, holding them a little higher, feeling as though Sawyer might pounce on him to get one.

"It's actually good that you have those," Sarah interjected from where she sat on her towel. "He already ate his sandwich, and was threatening to eat yours. I wasn't kidding when I told you it was a possibility."

"So then he's allowed to have one of these?" Kurt asked, looking over Sawyer's head at Sarah, now holding the hot dogs higher in the air to keep them out of Sawyer's reach as he attempted to snatch one of them. Jane looked on in amusement. This boy was _clearly_ related to Kurt.

"Yes," Sarah said, laughing at her son's comedic attempt to steal a hot dog from his uncle. "By all means. You'd think I'd been starving this kid or something." She shook her head as Kurt handed his nephew a hot dog, Sawyer's eyes lighting up as if he'd just been given the most exciting present of his life.

"Tell me again why I've been buying this kid Christmas presents all these years," Kurt said, watching the boy devour the hot dog. "I could just have given him hot dogs, apparently." Sarah chuckled, shaking her head.

"Sawyer, did you say 'Thank you?'" she asked in an attempt at a stern voice.

The hot dog was already half gone, and in between bites Sawyer mumbled "Thank you," as he made short work of the second half. Kurt held out the other two hot dogs to Sarah and Jane.

Sarah shook her head. "No, thanks," she replied.

"You sure?" Kurt asked.

"Yes, I'm sure," Sarah replied. "I'm already full."

"Okay," Kurt shrugged, taking a bite out of it. Jane, on the other hand, took the hot dog he was holding out to her. She found that she actually _was_ hungry after all.

Realizing that she should spread out their damp towels in the sand to dry out again, Jane took the bag off her shoulder and dropped it beside her. Then she turned and handed the hot dog back to Kurt. "Do _not_ eat this," she instructed him sternly. He watched her in amusement, wondering what she was doing. She unzipped the bag and took out their two towels, which she laid out beside Sarah and Sawyer's on the sand.

"They need to dry out," she said, reaching for the hot dog. He reached his arm back, holding her hot dog away from her, at the same time she moved towards him. He was teasing her, she knew, and she made a face at him. "Thank you for holding it for me," she said sweetly. "May I please have it now?"

He acted as though he was thinking it over, meanwhile taking a bite of the hot dog that Sarah had refused, keeping both of them just out of her reach. She watched him in disbelief, not sure why exactly they were playing this game, other than the fact that he liked to tease her – which she already knew. Rolling her eyes in mock exasperation, she mumbled, "Alright, two can play at this game." He was surprised when she stepped forward and leaned closer to him, right up into his face, planting a kiss on his lips despite the fact that she knew they had an eager audience only a few feet away.

She stepped back and watched him with satisfaction. He looked slightly stunned, handing back her hot dog without any further teasing. Smiling in triumph, she took it and sat at the edge of the two dry towels as Sarah folded her feet under her to make space for them, Sawyer having wandered off nearby to talk to another boy who looked to be his age.

"Well done, Jane," Sarah told her with a smile.

"I know his weaknesses," Jane replied, grinning up at Kurt as he sat down close beside her.

"I'm going to remember that one," he promised, winking at her. This just made her laugh, leaning against him lightly, but not close enough that he could try to steal a bite of her hot dog. He was now finishing his second one, and she swore he was eyeing hers.

"So, was there anything interesting down at the pier?" Sarah asked. The staring contest between Jane and Kurt ended then, as they turned their attention back to Sarah.

"Not too much," Kurt replied. "A few little shops, mostly touristy stuff, a restaurant, and a long pier with an admission charge and lots of fishermen. Jane found something she liked though."

Sarah looked at her quizzically. "Oh yeah? What?" she asked, as Jane had known she would. She smiled as Kurt reached across the towel for the green bag without being asked, which he handed to Jane. She took out the small wooden box, setting the bag down on the towel in front of them. Leaning forward slightly, she opened the lid, still holding her unfinished hot dog, and handed the box to Sarah for inspection. Sarah's eyes lit up as she looked at the contents, turning them over carefully, much like Jane had done in the shop.

Jane leaned back against Kurt and kept eating while Sarah inspected each piece carefully. "Wow," Sarah said in amazement. "It's sea glass, right?" Jane nodded, her mouth full at the moment, so Kurt answered for her.

"It is," he said. "You can't find it on _this_ beach, but they sell it at the pier." Sarah nodded, looking between the small colored pieces back to her brother and Jane. "I've heard of this. Just broken glass that's been in the ocean and worn down by the waves. But it's amazing that it turns out looking like _this_ …" Her voice trailed off as she stared down at the sea glass. Closing the box carefully, she handed it back to Jane, who had finished eating and now had both of her hands free. She put the box back into the beach bag, zipping it up again and reaching across the towel to put it down where it would be out of the way.

"So what have you guys been up to?" Kurt asked Sarah, glancing up at Sawyer, who now seemed to be debating the construction of a sand castle with the boy he'd been talking to for a few minutes now, as they looked at a partially built castle in front of them.

"Not much," Sarah said. "This. We went back in the water for a little while, but there's no waves today, as you know, so Sawyer decided it was 'kinda boring' and wanted to come back out…" She smiled as she watched her son, then looked back at Jane and Kurt. "Do you want anything else to eat? There's a few sandwiches in there, and some water."

Kurt reached over and opened the cooler, pulling out a water bottle and handing it to Jane even before she had a chance to answer. She smiled and thanked him, watching him take out a water bottle and a sandwich, closing the cooler.

"You're _still_ hungry?" she couldn't help but ask.

"Hey," Kurt said, pretending to be defensive. "I _told you_ I was hungry. You're the one who didn't believe me." Jane rolled her eyes at him, chuckling as she opened her water bottle. They sat in silence for a few minutes – Sarah watching Sawyer, but stealing glances at the two of them sitting close together, Jane looking past Sawyer at the waves, leaning against Kurt, and Kurt eating the sandwich Sarah had packed, alternating his gaze between Jane and the ocean in the distance, ignoring the fact that he knew his sister was watching them and grinning.

Finally, after a few minutes, Sarah said, "Well, if you guys can keep an eye on him for me for a minute, I'm going to go up to the boardwalk and find the bathroom."

"Of course," Jane replied, looking up at her. Kurt nodded as well.

"Thanks," Sarah said with a smile. She stood up and began making her way up the beach, through the maze of blankets and umbrellas. Suddenly, Jane and Kurt were alone again – or as alone as they could be on a crowded beach with Kurt's eleven year old nephew almost within earshot of them, anyway.

Leaning his cheek against hers, he asked, "You know what we're overdue for?"

"I'm _assuming_ you're talking about sunblock…" she said with a smile. "Unless I'm missing something…"

"Yep, sunblock" he said, reaching for the beach bag once again.

"I'll do yours first this time," she told him as he took out the two bottles.

Grinning at her, he said, "While Sarah's not here?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she told him, struggling to keep a straight face. He just winked at her, and pulled his t-shirt over his head without a word, turning around to face away from her. Once she'd sprayed his back, he glanced over at his shoulder at her again, seeing her smile at him in confusion.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Nothing," he shrugged. "It's just a long time not to look at you." She shook her head at him, then sat up on her knees to make herself taller, leaned forward over his shoulder and kissed his cheek, before starting to rub in the sunblock at his shoulders. Even though she knew that Sarah probably wouldn't be gone that long, she couldn't make herself rush – at least not _too_ much. The fact that this was an excuse to rub his back, that it was actually important that they each do it multiple times a day… the beach might be her new favorite place for that reason alone.

Much too soon she was finished, her hands slowly coming to a stop back on his shoulders once again, her arms dropping against his back. He lifted his head slowly from where it had dropped to his chest, and turned to look at her with a smile. "Ready?" he asked, despite the fact that he had no doubt that she was. As if on cue, she blushed slightly, then nodded her head.

"I guess so," she replied, pretending to think it over.

Shaking his head at her knowingly, he picked up the sunblock. "Do you want to sit up or lay on your stomach?" he asked. He had a suspicion he knew the answer. She started to position herself onto her stomach, and he reached out his hand, laying it on her shoulder. "Hang on a second," he said. She just looked up at him, confused. When he saw that she really didn't know why he'd stopped her, he couldn't help but chuckle. He reached down and tugged at the hem of her t-shirt.

"Should I say it again? Or will it get me in trouble?" he asked.

She smiled, realizing that he was attempting not to have to tell her _again_ to take off her shirt. Chuckling, she just sat back up, looking at him intently but not moving to help, curious what he would do.

He watched her, a mischievous smile on his face, noting that she now sat perfectly still, watching _him_. _Interesting_ , he thought, tugging her t-shirt up slowly.

When he couldn't pull her shirt up any higher, she adjusted her shoulders slightly, putting her arms up enough to be helpful. She _knew_ that she was being a little bit of a tease, but at the same time, this was just another part of the dance they'd been doing from one side of the line to the other for a long time now, and specifically this weekend.

Suddenly feeling flustered as her shirt momentarily got caught on her arms, she realized exactly what was happening – _Kurt is taking off your shirt_. Despite the fact that it was about as innocent as it could be, she suddenly tugged her shirt off the rest of the way herself. For a few seconds, until she got it all the way off, she couldn't see him. Ducking her head down slightly, she looked back up at him sheepishly.

"If I was worried about you being able to say you _told_ me to take my shirt off twice before," she said very quietly, "I'm not sure it's better that now you can say you _helped_ me do it."

He winked at her, grinning, and she rolled her eyes as she blushed. Laying down on the towel, she folded her arms under her head and looked over her shoulder at him. The warmth she felt from the way he was looking at her spread quickly through her body, and she felt the blush spreading out from her face, until she was sure that her whole body was a deep shade of pink. _Again_.

There was simply no limit to how long he could sit and enjoy watching her, especially when he had her so flustered. He squeezed sunblock onto one hand, and rubbed his hands together, feeling the lotion warm up between his palms and then sitting down close beside her. As soon as his hands touched her shoulders, a wide smile crossed her face, and he couldn't help but smile as well. The fact that he was allowed do this was still a novelty to him.

Sarah walked slowly across the sand toward their things, stopping when Jane and Kurt came into view. Jane was laying on the towel, her head turned toward Kurt with her eyes closed, while Kurt rubbed what she assumed was sunblock on her back. Never mind that they were in the middle of a crowded beach and they weren't doing anything that they couldn't have done with her there – she had the urge to give them privacy just the same. So she changed course, heading the long way around to where Sawyer was standing, still talking about the construction of a sand castle with another boy.

"Hey Sawyer," Sarah greeted her son. "You want to go get some ice cream?" Sawyer's eyes lit up. He'd only been begging his mom for ice cream since he'd finished breakfast that morning, after all.

"Yes!" he said, jumping up excitedly. Then, looking down at the other boy, he said, "If you want to finish it, go ahead, otherwise…" He glanced at Sarah unsurely. "I think I'll be back in a little while, right mom?"

"Yep, you will," she nodded.

"Cool," Sawyer said, "See you in a little bit, if you're still here." The other boy nodded glumly, and Sawyer couldn't blame him. It wasn't fun to be left out, but he wasn't about to miss out on ice cream to hang out and build a sandcastle. When his mom started back toward the boardwalk, Sawyer jogged after her in confusion.

"Hey, mom!" he called. "What about Jane and Uncle Kurt? Did they go off again already?" This disappearing thing his uncle kept doing with Jane was getting old.

"Nope, but they're not ready for ice cream just now," Sarah replied, trying to keep a straight face.

"What?" Sawyer asked, confused. He glanced back over at their towels, the last place he'd seen his uncle and Jane, and then quickly rolled his eyes in disgust. "Oh, come on," he muttered. Sarah just laughed, ruffling her son's hair.

"Just give it a couple years," she told him. "In the meantime, let's go get some ice cream. They'll catch up with us later." Sawyer glanced back at Jane and Kurt once more, shaking his head and sighing heavily, then turning to follow Sarah toward the boardwalk.

Kurt had seen Sarah out of the corner of his eye as she'd suddenly appeared by Sawyer, talking to him conspiratorially and then pointing toward the boardwalk. At that point he had a feeling that she'd seen what _he_ was doing and had gone out of her way to avoid disturbing them – for once. When Sawyer glanced in their direction, looking surprised and rolling his eyes, Kurt knew that both his sister and his nephew had noticed them. Not that it mattered, of course, because they weren't doing anything wrong. He looked back down at Jane, smoothing his hands back up to her shoulders slowly and tracing the ink lines of her upper back. As he did this, she opened her eyes to squint at him, the sun hurting her eyes after having had them closed for so long.

"What's up?" she asked him, seeing a strange look on his face. He dropped down on the towel, laying on his side facing her, his face inches from hers.

He grinned slightly at her. "Sarah must have walked by and seen us, because she just came down, went around without stopping here, got Sawyer and headed back up to the boardwalk."

Jane looked at him, puzzled, then asked, "Do you think they left?"

Kurt shook his head. "No, their stuff is still here, besides whatever she had in her pockets when she went to the bathroom. I'm pretty sure they'll be back." They just looked at each other, smiling, until a thought finally occurred to Jane.

"Hey, I think we need more sunblock… you know, on the parts of us _besides_ our backs and shoulders," she told him. They'd both almost forgotten this small but important fact. She was surprised she'd remembered at all, because when she looked into his eyes she was instantly distracted – which was funny, considering that she'd given him such a hard time about him being distracted by _her_ earlier.

"You're right," he replied, not moving from the spot directly in front of her. Several seconds passed before either of them even thought about moving again. For once, it was Jane who moved first.

"Come on, get up," she groaned, pushing herself up to a sitting position and reaching for the bottle of sunblock lotion.

He laughed at her, then said, "Wait, this sounds familiar. Didn't we have this conversation the last two mornings, except it was _me_ trying to get _you_ up?"

"I don't remember," she said, waving her hand in the air dismissively. They both knew that she remembered very well, and that he was right.

"Sure you don't," he grinned, sitting up and taking the spray from where it sat on the towel nearby. They both worked on their arms, legs, and everywhere else that they could reach on their own. Jane even remembered to remove her shorts so that she could get the tops of her legs. After all, she didn't really want a line next to her bikini that was the _color_ of her bikini. This time, Kurt made a halfhearted attempt to spread sunblock on his face, though it was obvious that he didn't try very hard.

When Jane looked at him, she just shook her head, sitting up on her knees on the towel in front of him, leaning in closer, and once again swiping at the streaks of white on his face. Now that she once again had her shirt off, and was kneeling in front of him on the towel in the red bikini that Patterson had convinced her looked so amazing on her, she suddenly felt self-conscious again. Even as she worked on smoothing the sunblock on his face, she glanced away from him for a second or two at a time – over his head, or to his side.

"Look at me," she heard him say seriously, and her eyes immediately focused back on his face, momentarily confused. His eyes didn't move from her face, and yet his hands were suddenly on her waist. "Now keep your eyes right here," he said, his voice softer this time. She smiled, exhaling slowly, her hand pausing against his cheek for a second. "Nowhere else," he told her. _Of course he knew,_ she thought to herself for the thousandth time that weekend, _he always knows._

What was it that Sarah had said to her that morning? She tried to remember. _"If they're looking, it's because you make the rest of us look bad, Jane. And if they're being nasty, it's because they're jealous."_

She took a deep breath, and felt her determination refill, slowly but steadily. Suddenly she was able to tune out the thoughts of what the people around her were thinking about her, and the desire she'd felt to scan the area only a few moments before left her completely. She continued to stare into his eyes, her smile growing brighter as he watched.

He hadn't expected it to actually work – not so well, anyway. Another minute later, she was finished and she sat back down, still watching him intently, a look of contentment on her face that he didn't think he'd seen since the day before.

It was hard – no, impossible – to explain why she suddenly felt so much more… _together_. Okay, it wasn't impossible to explain, it was simple – Kurt had just managed to somehow reel her back in from her thoughts. At the same time, she'd been with him for every bit of the time since they'd arrived at the beach, and her feelings about walking around in this bikini that was causing her to feel so self-conscious at times had yo-yoed wildly, even with him by her side. So he couldn't be the _only_ thing that affected the way she felt about herself.

So then what was it? She really couldn't say. All she did know was that it was exhausting, this feeling of constantly battling her own feelings. Going from one extreme to the other was beginning to give her whiplash. She couldn't help but wonder if other people felt this way, and to what extent… or if it was unique to her. After all, there were enough other "unique" things about her. But no, she decided, that didn't quite seem possible, even if it was hard for her to imagine. Surely she couldn't be the _only_ one whose feelings seemed determined to sabotage her. She couldn't know, of course, how very common an experience it really was.

Picking up the sunblock again, she dabbed it onto her fingers and, as Kurt had done on himself, she made a half-hearted attempt to spread it on her face. He watched her in what she assumed was amusement, until her hands both rested in her lap, signaling that she had given up. Then he moved closer to her, spreading the lotion around slowly until no more white could be seen. The whole time, without having to be told, her eyes were either on him or, when his fingers moved closer to her eyes, they were closed. She couldn't help but feel disappointed when he finished, and his hands rested once again on the towel.

Immediately craving contact with him once more, she turned herself back around so that she again faced the ocean, scooting over slightly so that her left side was leaned against his right. Without a word, he shifted his weight to lean toward her, bracing himself against his right arm, which he anchored behind her, giving him an excuse to increase the area on which they leaned against each other. Smiling, he glanced down at her as her head fell against his shoulder, and was glad to see contentment written all over her face.

It was then that the heard their names being called loudly from not very far behind them. Of course, it was Sawyer, sounding very excited about something, as usual. They both turned to look over their right shoulders, almost as if they'd practiced doing so in synch with each other. Sarah, who was walking quickly to try to keep up with her son, had to stifle a chuckle. These two were too much.

Sawyer, for his part, was glad to see the two of them sitting up. Besides the fact that they weren't doing anything he didn't really want to see anyway, it would make giving them what he'd brought them – huge ice cream cones – that much easier.

"Jane! Uncle Kurt! Look at this!" Sawyer called loudly when he was within shouting distance. Sarah tried to close the gap in order to admonish her son about yelling on the beach, without success. Within a minute, Sawyer had plopped down on his knees on the towel in front of Jane and Kurt, handing each of them a waffle cone filled with slightly melted chocolate ice cream, both already threatening to drip over the sides.

"Look what we brought you!" the boy exclaimed proudly, presenting one first to Jane, then to his uncle. "You guys better eat it fast, before they melt all the way," he added.

"Mmmmm, that looks so good," Jane said, suddenly hungry again, glancing from the boy in front of her, up to Sarah, who had finally caught up with him and was standing nearby. "Thanks!" she said before quickly licking a drip from the side of the cone. Sawyer looked delighted that his idea had been a success.

"Thanks, buddy. Thanks, Sarah. That was nice of you guys," Kurt added, knowing that Sarah had played a part in it. If nothing else, she'd paid.

"See, mom! I told you it was a good idea!" Sawyer said gleefully to his mother.

"Well I never said it wasn't," Sarah interjected. "Your uncle and food would never be a _bad_ idea, after all. Especially not ice cream." Kurt grinned, nodding his head. Sarah made an excellent point.

Jane leaned happily against Kurt, eating her ice cream as fast as she could so that it didn't drip all over her, but not _too_ fast, so that she could enjoy the taste and avoid brain freeze.

"Hey, Sawyer," Kurt called. Jane turned to look at him and was surprised to see that he was already finishing his ice cream cone. Jane still had half of hers left, and she felt like she'd been eating fast!

"Did you just inhale that ice cream?" Jane asked, shocked. Everyone laughed at that, and Jane shook her head at him, turning back to her own rapidly melting ice cream.

Before the conversation had a chance to shift back to Sawyer, Kurt leaned down and whispered beside her ear, "Remember when I told you that you weren't the only one with hidden talents?" Though not for a particular reason other than the fact that he'd spoken so close to her, she blushed. He watched the side of her face turn pink yet again, and chuckled to himself.

"Yeah, Uncle Kurt?" Sawyer asked, curious what he'd been about to say.

"There's a playground a few blocks down. You want to go check it out?" Despite the fact that Sawyer was eleven and was suddenly claiming on a regular basis that he was "too old" for many of the things he'd loved to do not long ago, so far playing on the playground was not one of them.

Sawyer glanced at Sarah, who nodded slightly, and then back at Kurt. "Yeah!" he cried enthusiastically. Before Kurt could say anything else, Sawyer looked down at Jane, who was still working on finishing her ice cream. "What do you say, Jane? You're coming, right?" His face was full of hope, and Jane was surprised just how good it made her feel. He sincerely wanted her to go with them.

"Of course," she replied with a smile.

"At least let her finish her giant ice cream cone," Sarah told Sawyer hastily.

"That's okay," Jane assured them, "I'm almost done."

Kurt chuckled beside her. "Yeah, with everything I've seen her do in the field, I'm pretty sure she can handle eating and walking." She felt him lean closer to her for a second as he pressed a quick, light kiss into her hair before standing up, offering her a hand to pull her up as well. Holding her ice cream cone in her left hand, she gave him her right hand, allowing herself to be pulled upright.

"Do you want to come, mom?" Sawyer asked, realizing that she was the only one he wasn't sure of.

"Nope, you guys go ahead," Sarah said, waving her hand at them. "I'll happily lay here and read my book until you've tired yourselves out." Sawyer shook his head at her, but shrugged and turned towards Kurt.

"Okay, bye, mom!" he called, already starting to walk away.

"Have fun, you guys!" Sarah said, waving at them as she moved into the space that Jane and Kurt had just abandoned. Jane picked up the green beach bag and one of their still-not-quite-dry towels, throwing their sandals in the bag and saying "You just never know," and followed Kurt, who was attempting to keep up with Sawyer as he took off through the sand.

"Hey, Sawyer!" Kurt called with his hands cupped around his mouth. His nephew had gotten so far ahead, Kurt was fairly sure he wouldn't have heard him otherwise. When the boy turned around, Kurt motioned him back, as Jane and Kurt continued to walk forwards. Once he was in front of them again, Kurt explained, "We _could_ walk the whole way down the beach, but the sand up here is loose and harder to walk on. It'll be easier to walk on the boardwalk until we get there, then come back down. Okay? Otherwise you'll wear yourself out faster."

Sawyer nodded in understanding, this time satisfying himself with walking more slowly in front of the adults, turning to give them impatient looks over his shoulder every twenty seconds of so. Kurt chuckled, his hand once again holding Jane's as they walked over the last stretch of sand to the steps up onto the boardwalk. "He's pretty impatient," he observed quietly. "Kind of reminds me of someone."

She looked over at him, a curious half smile on her face and her eyes wide, as if she was urging him to think carefully about his next words. "Oh, yeah?" she asked, pretending she didn't know what he was about to say. "And who would that be?" She handed each of them their sandals, and they slipped them on and continued walking.

"This girl I know," he replied with a smile. "I'm not sure if you know her." She turned and raised her eyebrows at him as he continued. "Dark hair. Green eyes. A bit of a daredevil, and stubborn as hell." Smiling, she glanced down, and then back up at him as if deep in thought.

"I don't think I know her," she replied, shaking her head.

"That's a shame," he told her regretfully, "because she's pretty amazing." She made a face at him, shook her head and bumped her shoulder against his arm playfully, conveniently chewing the last bite of her ice cream cone, unable to respond. "I should introduce you to her," he said, as if the idea had just occurred to him. "You guys have a lot in common."

"Dork," she said affectionately. Just then, Sawyer turned around once again, looking at them as he attempted to control his annoyance at their slow pace.

"Uncle Kurt, there it is!" he cried. His excitement was more fitting for a younger child, but it was cute to see him so excited. After all, he was on the cusp of the age where he wouldn't be excited about much, Kurt knew.

They were still blocks away, so Kurt couldn't quite justify letting Sawyer run ahead, as much as he wanted to – not as crowded as the boardwalk was. He tugged on Jane's hand and they picked up their pace, almost catching up with Sawyer.

When they finally reached the beach entrance closest to the playground, which stood in the shadow of the same Neptune statue that they'd taken a picture in front of the day before, Sawyer threw himself down the stairs, tripping in the sand at the bottom in his haste, and landing on his hands and knees. He looked back up at them and grinned, even more delighted, before scrambling forward, picking himself up as he ran for the play structure.

"And that's what the sand is for," Kurt laughed as he and Jane followed Sawyer down the stairs. Sawyer had already reached the play structure by the time the two adults got to the bottom of the four steps. The equipment was really mostly for younger kids, of which there were also a few, but Sawyer didn't seem to care. He simply watched out for them, stepping out of their way and making sure to leave them room to play as he moved around. The smaller kids, in turn, watched in awe as he made his way across the monkey bars at the far end, swinging from one rung to the next easily.

"They're looking at him like he's a superhero," Jane observed as they approached the structure, walking slowly. Kurt chuckled, looking from his nephew, who was crossing the bars easily, to the small group of younger kids who'd stopped playing to watch him. She couldn't help but notice the look of pride on Kurt's face.

As they walked closer, Jane looked around, slightly disappointed. "No swings at this playground, I guess," she lamented. Her second safe house, where the FBI had moved her after Marcos had broken into her first one, had been near a neighborhood playground, and she and Kurt had walked over there a few times. At the time, Kurt had been trying to cross as many common experiences off of her "Never Tried" list as possible, and playing on the playground had been one of the things on her list. Of all the equipment, the swings had been her favorite part.

It now seemed like a long time ago – it _had_ been more than a year now, or more than half way back through her short memory – and it was only now that she and Kurt were back on good terms that she could let herself remember it fondly – even if the temporary leave of absence from work that she and Kurt had been on at the time had been due to her having contracted a severe case of poison ivy.

Since there were no swings, they sat down on a bench nearby. The posts holding it up were halfway buried in the sand, so the bench felt very short. Jane laughed as they sat down, looking down at it in confusion. "Why does this thing make me feel like a giant?" she asked.

A woman standing nearby, watching a toddler slowly climb the wide steps closest to them, turned in their direction and smiled. "They have to bring in sand to reinforce the beach every year," she said helpfully, smiling at Jane, "because the erosion is so bad here. So either they didn't _quite_ distribute it right, or they just went a little overboard."

They were sitting down by now, albeit slightly awkwardly with their knees sticking up in the air in front of them, as if their feet sat on a footrest. Kurt's arm had automatically snaked along the back of the bench behind Jane, and she leaned into him on her right side, now so accustomed to this position that she did it without even thinking about it.

Jane smiled at the woman, nodding. "Well that makes sense," she replied. "Certainly more sense than that someone wanted me to feel like a giant." Jane thought back to what the woman in the shop on the pier had said about sand on the beach in Norfolk, the one with sea glass, being brought in from elsewhere as well. It was strange to think of a beach needing to be reinforced against the forces of nature. After all, a beach was a _part_ of nature. She thought of the seven pieces of sea glass in the wooden box, tucked in the green bag by her feet, which led her thoughts to what Kurt had said, about her not being like sea glass, despite what she thought.

" _Well, you are beautiful. But you're not broken. Scratched, maybe, cracked even, but not broken. And certainly not in pieces. You shouldn't think of yourself that way. I certainly don't."_

She trusted his opinion more than anyone else's in the world… and repeating his words over again to herself only made her affection for him deepen… so why couldn't she quite _believe_ them?

 _Because you've_ _ **been**_ _in a place where you lost everything before – twice –_ the voice in her head replied matter-of-factly. _It's scary to think you could end up there again, losing everything important to you. The more you_ _ **have**_ _, the more you have to lose. And right now, you have something better than you've ever had before._

There was a faraway look on her face when Kurt looked down at her, as if she was once again lost in her thoughts. She didn't look upset, per se, just as if she was somewhere else. Her right knee was propped up on his left leg, her leg folded under her and her left leg bent and stretched back along the bench on the far side of her. He took advantage of this, his fingers lazily tracing the ink lines just above her right knee, staying within three or four inches of it and then reversing their course back to where they'd started. The fact that she didn't seem to have noticed him doing it told him just how lost in thought she really was.

Glancing up, he watched Sawyer for a few minutes, his fingers moving across the almost imperceptible ridges left by the ink under her skin. He'd never really noticed it before, since he was usually looking at her skin while tracing the lines, but he could actually feel the slightest ridges where the ink lines lay. It was like discovering her tattoos all over again in a whole new way, and he was fascinated.

He looked back down at her again, noticing that she still seemed just as far away as she had when he'd last glanced at her. Despite the fact that she still didn't look upset, he couldn't help but be slightly concerned. After all, he knew Jane's demons, sometimes even better than Jane knew them herself. His fingers stilled, his hand flattening over her knee and squeezing gently. In response, he saw her begin to stir from her thoughts, slowly turning to look at him.

Leaning his head down close to hers, he asked quietly, "You okay?"

Jane smiled slowly, her eyes still slightly unfocused, before turning to look up at him with the full force of her smile. "Much better than okay," she replied. "I was just thinking."

"Oh yeah?" he asked. "About what?" He knew that if she didn't want to tell him, she wouldn't.

She shrugged. Continuing to smile as she focused on Sawyer talking to a toddler, she replied simply, "You." Gazing down at his hand that still lay flat on her knee, she covered it with her own right hand. In response, he turned his hand palm side up beneath hers, so that he could intertwine their fingers, then gave her hand a squeeze. It was the strangest thing, but she felt like they'd had a whole conversation, when in reality they had uttered fifteen words between the two of them. Her very next thought was that it shouldn't surprise her, since they'd held many conversations between the two of them with even fewer words before, some without _any_ words. It was one of the things that made their bond so special.

For no reason in particular, Jane realized just then that she'd forgotten to see if Patterson had replied to the text she'd sent earlier, with the pictures attached. Jane hadn't looked at her phone at all since she'd sent it that morning. Knowing Patterson, she'd replied pretty quickly and had been climbing the walls to know more details even since.

Jane reached down for the bag with her left hand and pulled out her phone, pressing the button to illuminate the screen and revealing enough text notifications that the boxes didn't all fit on her screen at once. "Wow," she said, which prompted Kurt to lean over her shoulder to see what she was looking at.

The first one was from Patterson. Actually, _most_ of them were from Patterson, though Jane saw Zapata's name in one of the boxes as well. Jane swiped across Patterson's last box, bringing up her texts. The first one read, _Jane!_ _Looks like you two are having fun ;) I need details!_ Jane smiled, because that was exactly what she would expect from Patterson.

The next bubble read, _Just what are you two doing that you can't even text your friends back?_ And then, when Jane hadn't replied, she'd added, _Don't do anything I wouldn't do ;) We won't forget about this come Monday._

Kurt chuckled, and she leaned against him, feeling herself turn what was rapidly becoming a familiar shade of pink.

"Do we know what it is that Patterson wouldn't do?" he asked curiously. She was leaning against his chest, and his voice seemed to rumble from deep inside it against her ear.

"I'm not sure," Jane replied cautiously, "but I think so far she would approve." Kurt brought his left arm off of the back of the bench, bending his elbow so that he could rest his hand on her neck. Her eyes closed involuntarily when he did, thinking that if given the chance, she would happily stay exactly where she was indefinitely.

She realized that she should say _something_ in reply to Patterson, or there was a good chance she'd receive more of the same type of texts. Opening her eyes reluctantly, she carefully extracted her right hand from his, shifting the phone so that she could type. Her reply, on which she also added Zapata's name to the addressee line, for good measure, said, _Let's just say, we're having a great weekend. ;) Weller says hi, and "thanks for picking the bikini, Patterson."_

She held the phone up slightly for him to read her message before she sent it, and she could feel another rumble in his chest as he chuckled at the words she'd chosen. "Yes, I do," he agreed. "Thank you very much." Looking over it one more time, she hit Send, then put her phone back in her bag. She knew she wouldn't get away that easily, but she also knew that both Patterson and Zapata would pepper her with questions in person no matter what she said now. It was best to keep it simple.

They'd been glancing up at Sawyer frequently, keeping an eye on him, but somehow they were still surprised when he suddenly flopped down in the sand only a few feet in front of them only seconds after Jane had put her phone back in the beach bag. "You guys want to go?" he asked, his eyes moving back and forth from his uncle to Jane.

Jane's first thought in response to Sawyer's question was _No, not really, I'm good where I am_ , _thanks_ , but she smiled, finally letting it sink into her head that what she was feeling – this contentment mixed with giddiness – wasn't unique to one place, but instead that it followed wherever she and Kurt went together. It was hard to get used to, and yet it was a welcome realization every time.

Kurt chuckled at Sawyer, now sprawled out in the sand in front of them dramatically. "Why, not enough action here?" he asked his nephew.

Sawyer just shrugged. "It's more for little kids, and I don't want to hurt them. All the kids my age are down on the beach…"

Jane and Kurt both nodded in understanding. "Do you want to walk back down by the water? Or on the boardwalk?" He asked, letting Sawyer decide this time.

"Definitely the water," he replied immediately, springing back up in excitement. Jane and Kurt managed to get themselves up off of the bench, helping to pull each other up. Jane collected their sandals, which had all been kicked off already, putting them back in the bag. They walked down to where the water was just lapping at the shore, people everywhere, before turning to walk back toward where they'd left Sarah.

"Don't get too far ahead of us, buddy," Kurt reminded Sawyer. Once again, he took Jane's hand, squeezing it for no other reason than he felt like it.

It was then, as they started following the rambunctious eleven year old down the beach, that Jane realized for the first time that she hadn't put a towel around herself, hadn't put her clothes back on, hadn't covered her tattoos at all, other than what little was hidden by the red bikini… and that she hadn't given it another thought since before they'd left Sarah by the towels. She'd completely forgotten to be self-conscious this entire time. Stopping in her tracks, utterly shocked, she heard Kurt asking her what was wrong. She stood staring ahead, open mouthed, for a few seconds, before shaking her head slowly, then looking back down at herself and back up at him, her surprise written plainly on her face.

"I was wondering when you were going to notice," he said, tugging her hand to urge her onward, not wanting to lose sight of Sawyer. She just shook her head again, waiting to see how she felt about herself now that she was conscious of the fact that only a small fraction of her tattoos were covered. Her eyes darted to a few people around her and she felt the familiar prickling sensation of what she swore were eyes on her, even when she wasn't looking in the direction they were coming from…

 _But what's so different between now and five minutes ago?_ she asked herself. The answer, of course, was _nothing_. Nothing had changed. If they were looking at her now, then they'd been looking at her then. And yet she hadn't given it a second thought. It wasn't as simple as just deciding not to care, of course, and yes, of course there would be lots of people staring at her – that would _always be the case_. She knew these things like the back of her hand by now. However, at that moment she simply decided that she wasn't going to think about it. It wouldn't always work, of course, but she'd take it where she could get it.

Kurt had been glancing between Jane and Sawyer, concentrating mostly on his nephew, while also attempting not to step on any small children who darted into their path. He couldn't help but notice, however, that Jane seemed to be standing up a little straighter, her expression slightly more resolute. When he squeezed her hand, she turned to look at his with a genuine smile, not a forced one. He was relieved to see her looking more confident, because really, she had every reason to. He got why it was hard, but of course… well, he wasn't objective when it came to Jane, and he never had been. That was simply the way it was.

They finally reached the beach by 25th Street, recognizing it from the water by the lifeguard stand near the towels, where they looked up to see Sarah still reading her book. They stopped and watched Sawyer run in her direction, calling a greeting to his mom and then stopping short of her when he reached the same boy he'd been discussing sand castles earlier. Sarah looked in their direction and waved, smiling, then looked back down at her book once more.

"You want to walk a little more?" he asked, taking a half step closer to her now that he didn't have to worry about keeping track of Sawyer.

"I'd really like to go somewhere and just… sit," she replied, thinking that it probably sounded crazy, because they could easily have walked up to where Sarah was and sat on their towels.

"What, you don't want to go chat with Sarah and have her grin at us?" he asked, smiling broadly and understanding _exactly_ what she was talking about.

"Your sister is great but… not right now," Jane conceded, glad that he'd said it first.

"Where do you want to go?" he asked her. "On the beach? Off the beach? Food? Coffee? Nap?"

She considered the suggestion of nap for half a second, both because she did feel a little worn out from being in the sun all morning and because she liked the idea of being snuggled up with him. But then, of course, there was the same slight awkwardness she'd felt the previous night… They still had another night at the beach house during which she had to decide how she felt and what she wanted, and she didn't need to add any extra awkwardness before that.

Her second favorite of his suggestions was coffee, which, since she wasn't having a nap, she figured she might as well have. There was still plenty of afternoon left to come back to the beach after that, after all. And if that concert Sarah had mentioned earlier was going to be something they wanted to see, she might need some extra energy. Yep, coffee sounded like a good idea.

"You had me at _coffee_ ," she told him, which made him laugh. He didn't realize she'd learned that particular pop culture reference.

"I have you, huh?" he asked, looking directly at her.

"Shut up," she told him, landing a playful punch on his arm. "But… yes, you do."

"So coffee, means… we're walking pretty much right back to where we just came from," he told her, dropping her hand reluctantly and turning back the way they had just come from.

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "I have no other plans," she said calmly, completely unfazed.

"Beach or boardwalk?" he asked, referring to where she preferred to walk.

"Beach," she replied. After all, they were already there.

They began walking back the way they'd just come. Kurt had already consulted his phone and found that there was a Starbucks a block past 30th Street, where the cross street met Pacific Avenue – in other words, less than two blocks from the Neptune statue.

His arm slipped back over her shoulders as they retraced their steps, her arm sliding around his waist as if it was the most natural thing in the world. And why shouldn't it be, by this point? Otherwise, she decided, it wouldn't have kept happening seemingly of its own accord.

 _I could get used to this_ , she thought suddenly. Wasn't that what he'd told her? To get used to it? She felt a twinge in her chest, the protective instinct that told her to beware of such ideas, because she would only end up hurt in the end. She knew, of course, that nothing was certain, but just then she decided to stop second guessing things and let herself be happy – for however long it lasted. She couldn't know the future, of course, but the present… well, the present was pretty amazing.


	16. Not Sleeping

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

They sat on a loveseat in front of a sunny window at the crowded Starbucks only blocks from the beach. Jane had donned her shirt and shorts again, and Kurt his t-shirt, as they'd left the sand, and they now sat close together, sipping coffee and watching the people who came in and out of the small shop. They sat side by side, their shoulders pressed together, Kurt's feet on the floor and Jane sitting cross-legged, her right knee resting on Kurt's left leg. Their joined hands rested on her knee, and she couldn't help but feel like it all was, once again, too perfect.

In a way, it was a relief to be out of the sun, though it simultaneously felt strange to be back in the air conditioning after the better part of two days outside. They had been sitting quietly for a few minutes, just taking it all in, when they overheard a blonde woman who appeared to be about their age talking to a redhead beside her as they waited for their drinks. Their topic of conversation, from what they could tell, was about something happening that night. The blonde sounded excited, which was what caught Jane's attention first.

"Did I tell you about the concert tonight?" the blonde asked excitedly.

"Yes," her friend replied. "Did you find out who's playing?"

"I did!" the woman gushed. "Danny's friend is on the crew, and _he_ said the surprise band tonight is going to be GooGoo Dolls," the blonde said excitedly.

"At Neptune Park?" her friend asked in surprise. "Wow, that's going to be crazy. They played the giant amphitheater at Farm Bureau Live last year! They're going to play in that tiny little park?"

"Well, I guess the organizers figure that because it's still a surprise, it'll be manageable… and that the overflow will go down the boardwalk and onto the beach? I don't know. It's going to be amazing, though," the blonde said as she picked up her coffee from the counter.

"We're going, right?" her friend asked as they walked toward the exit.

"Of _course_ ," the first woman said. "We're just going to need to be there early." And then they were gone.

"Wow," Jane said quietly, "They're really excited about that concert."

Kurt nodded in agreement, turning her hand over in his. "They certainly are. Though to be fair, they're right, that's a pretty big band to be playing in that little park," he said, glancing at the window across the store from them. "It's the one right in front of the Neptune statue, next to the boardwalk. Did you see it?"

"No, I didn't notice. I guess I was too busy staring at the three story tall statue of the god of the sea," Jane replied, shaking her head.

"Understandable," Kurt replied, "Well, you'll see it when we walk back up to the beach. Assuming that we walk back to the beach from here…" He glanced at her, and she nodded.

"Oh course," she agreed.

"I should tell Sarah, I think that's a band she likes," he said, reluctantly letting go of Jane's hand and reaching into the green bag for his phone. He typed out a text to his sister as Jane leaned against his shoulder.

 _The surprise band playing at Neptune Park tonight is GooGoo Dolls. Isn't that one that you like?_

Her reply came less than a minute later.

 _GooGoo Dolls?! Are you serious? How do you know?!_

"Sounds like one she likes," Jane commented. "That's a lot of excited punctuation."

Kurt chuckled softly, nodding. He was already typing his reply.

 _We're at Starbucks across the street from there, and just overheard two women talking. Apparently one of them knows someone on the crew. That's what they said._

Again, the wait for a response was very short.

 _If that's true, it's going to be amazing. I wanted to go to their concert last year, but I had plans that day. You guys would love it… you don't even know what they sing, do you?_

Jane continued reading over Kurt's shoulder, smiling because Sarah knew very well that neither of them was familiar with that particular band. Or almost any band, really.

 _Nope_ , Kurt typed back.

 _I can pull up lots of their music for you,_ Sarah replied. _Do you want to meet up for dinner? Or are you guys doing your own thing? Sawyer is already telling me he wants pizza tonight._

Kurt turned to Jane questioningly. "What do you think?" he asked, kissing her forehead. "Pizza with Sarah and Sawyer? It's up to you."

"Sure," Jane replied. The gleeful smile on her face and the speed with which she'd answered made him wonder if she even knew what she'd just agreed to, or if she was just drunk on the moment and saying yes to whatever he asked her. He looked at her curiously, and asked, "Do you know what you just said yes to?"

"Of course," she replied with a grin, looking directly into his eyes. "Dinner. With Sarah and Sawyer. Pizza."

"Okay, just checking," he said slowly, looking at her in amusement.

"Why, I look spaced out or something?" Jane asked, suddenly confused.

"You look… blissfully happy," he said with a smile, squeezing her hand.

"I am," she replied simply. "But I'm still listening to what you're asking me."

"Well that's definitely a good thing," he said with a smile, taking a small sip of coffee. They smiled at each other for a few long seconds, at which time he realized that he'd almost forgotten to reply to Sarah.

 _Pizza sounds good. What time?_

 _5:30? I know you boys will be hungry by then,_ she replied quickly.

 _True_ , he typed. _Where?_

 _Anywhere. As long as there's pizza,_ was her answer.

Kurt rolled his eyes and brought up his map app, then began typing again.

 _Dough Boys California Pizza. 2410 Atlantic Avenue. Sound okay?_

 _Sure,_ she replied. _See you there, if not before_.

He sent back a thumbs up emoji, then turned off the display on his phone. Looking down at Jane, who was leaning against his shoulder, he noticed that her eyes were closed. "You awake?" he asked.

"I think so," she murmured, "but I'm not sure. I'm in the middle of what feels like a _really_ good dream. So don't wake me up, okay? I want to stay right where I am." He couldn't help but smile at that. Their weekend _did_ feel like a really good dream. Without a second thought, he leaned his face down against the top of her head, slowly inhaling the scent of her shampoo. They'd been sitting in Starbucks long enough that even drinking slowly, they'd both finished their coffees, and yet getting up to go elsewhere felt like such an inconvenience.

"What time is dinner?" Jane asked without opening her eyes.

"5:30," Kurt replied, turning his head so that his cheek rested against her hair.

"What time is it now?" she asked.

Clicking his screen on again, he looked down at his phone in his right hand. "Almost 2:00," he said. "What do you want to do until then?"

"This," Jane said without hesitation, which made Kurt laugh.

"We're not doing anything," he laughed.

"That's fine," Jane replied, beginning to sound far away.

"Are you falling asleep?" he asked, looking down at her suspiciously.

"Of course not," she replied. "I just drank coffee."

Her eyes were still closed, however, and from the sound of her voice, she _was_ getting sleepy. Shaking his head at her, he chuckled quietly. They sat there for a while, Kurt not wanting to move, sure that she was asleep.

Finally, he decided to speak up. "Okay, Miss Not Falling Asleep… but you look a lot like someone who's falling asleep for someone who's _not_ falling asleep…"

"Looks can be deceiving," she replied, to his amusement.

Shaking his head at her, he said, "Let's go back and take a nap."

His words brought back the same uncertainty she'd felt when he'd suggested it earlier, but this time, in her half asleep state – despite her protests to the contrary, she actually _was_ falling asleep right there on his shoulder – she couldn't bring herself to worry about any of her earlier concerns.

"Okay," she whispered. "You win."

He frowned suddenly, realizing only then that Sarah had the key to the beach house. This was a problem.

Except that it wasn't, because at that moment, Sarah and Sawyer walked through the door. Kurt hadn't even noticed the door open, but in seconds, Sawyer was standing in front of them with a loud greeting.

"Uncle Kurt! Jane! You're still here!" he cried excitedly. Kurt looked up in surprise, and Jane opened her eyes, confused.

"What are you guys doing here?" Kurt asked Sarah, who was now standing beside Sawyer.

Sawyer rolled his eyes. "You said the magic word, Uncle Kurt," Sawyer told him. When Kurt looked at him in confusion, Sawyer said, " _Starbucks._ She couldn't resist the pull of coffee." He looked over his shoulder at his mom, who grinned.

"Guilty," she admitted. "Why not? We're on vacation."

Jane just smiled, her eyes slipping closed again. Kurt nodded, realizing how perfect his sister's timing was. "Since you're here," he said, "could I have the key to the house?"

"Sure," she said, digging it out of her pocket and handing it to him. "You guys going back there?"

"Someone needs a nap," he replied, looking down at Jane, who appeared to be asleep on his shoulder.

"Yeah, Kurt's tired," Jane agreed without opening her eyes. "I think his coffee is broken."

Kurt and Sarah both chuckled at her. Sawyer stood several feet away from them, his attention on the menu board.

"Mom, may I get something?" he asked.

"Something that's not coffee," she called in reply. He made a face at her and kept reading.

"Jane, let's go," Kurt said, nudging her with his elbow. "Time to wake up."

"I'm _not_ waking up," she said stubbornly, "because I'm _not_ sleeping."

"Okay, then open your eyes, and let's stand up," he urged her patiently. She made a face, but slowly opened her eyes.

The first thing Jane saw when she opened her eyes was Sarah grinning at her, which made her want to close them again. She liked Sarah, she _did_ , but she didn't feel like having Sarah in her face just then.

Seeing that her eyes were open, Kurt decided to take advantage of it before she had a chance to close again, and stood up, pulling her up along with him. With the key in his pocket, he put the green beach bag over his right shoulder, his left arm around Jane. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty, let's go," he said soothingly.

"Bye, you guys," Sarah grinned.

"See you later," Kurt replied.

Sarah watched the pair in amusement as Jane muttered under her breath about how she hadn't been sleeping, and could he please _not_ call her Sleeping Beauty… They were just _so_ cute. She went over to join Sawyer by the menu board as Jane and Kurt went out through the door and onto the sidewalk.

Once outside, Jane squinted in the light as Kurt's arm returned to her shoulders. She leaned against him, her arm around him as well, more for support this time than the previous ones. She remembered why she'd said no to a nap before, but her hesitation seemed irrelevant now. A nap sounded… heavenly.

They crossed to the far side of Pacific Avenue and turned left, and it was just over five blocks to 25 ½ Street. By the time they got that far, Kurt wasn't convinced that Jane wasn't actually walking and sleeping at the same time. She _was_ very good at a lot of unusual things, after all, so maybe she could manage it. She'd appeared to be walking with her eyes closed for the past two blocks, which was what made Kurt wonder.

When they finally reached the front door of the beach house, pausing so that he could unlock the door, he saw her eyes open just a crack.

"We're back already?" she asked.

He couldn't help but chuckle at her. "Yes," he said as he steered her through the doorway, walking behind her and attempting to keep her upright, because he couldn't walk through the door at the same time as her. He stopped and kicked off his sandals, and she bent down to pull hers off as well, having considerably more trouble doing so than usual.

Once the sandals were dispensed with, he set the green bag down and steered her down the hallway by the shoulders, again walking behind her. She glanced over her shoulder at him with a sleepy smile, and immediately almost tripped over her own feet. He stopped abruptly to avoid bumping into her, and smiled. "Look where you're going, please," he said softly as she turned back around, righting herself. They reached their bedroom door at the end of the hall on the right without further incident, and he opened it before she'd even had a chance to try.

She continued across the room to lie down as he turned and closed the door behind them, locking it for good measure – because with Sarah and Sawyer, well, you just never knew. Not that he thought that this was anything other than a nap, because Jane seemed truly exhausted. That was fine with him. They were both there together, and that was what mattered.

When he turned around, he saw that she'd sat down at the edge of the bed but had yet to pull herself up any further. She looked up at him as he walked toward her, smiling slightly, and wondering what exactly the look was that he saw on her face. Surely she wasn't anxious again, knowing him like she did? But then, knowing _her_ as he did, he knew that it was a distinct possibility. So he smiled warmly at her, raising his hands in the air as if in surrender.

"I come in peace," he said, which made her smile. She looked away and shook her head, turning tiredly toward the middle of the bed and momentarily unable to work out how to pull back the covers, since she was sitting on them. He couldn't help but chuckle as he made it to her side, just as she finally figured out the problem and stood up, at which time he bent down to fold them back for her.

While his right hand had pulled back the covers, his left had slipped around her waist and she now turned towards him, leaning her forehead tiredly on his shoulder. "Come on, lay down," he urged her gently, trying to nudge her in the direction of the bed. She shook her head against his shoulder. He chuckled, shaking his head at her and added, "I'm not leaving, silly. I was planning to stay right here with you. You're more tired than you think. Can you just lay down, please? Or should I demonstrate how that's done?"

She made a pouting face that rivaled a grumpy three year old as she shifted her weight off of him, stood back up and turned toward the bed, nearly falling onto it as she climbed in and pulled the covers over her. He walked around to the other side and got in as well, scooting himself over until he was beside her. She was lying on her back, her head turned towards him and her eyes closed, already appearing to be asleep. He propped himself up against his right elbow, staring down at her for a few seconds, his hand finding hers under the covers.

Without opening her eyes, she smiled, scooting towards him and then turning away without a word so that her back was against his chest once again. He draped his arm over her waist, lowering his head onto the soft pillow that lay beside hers, and wondering how any of this was possible. This kind of good… it just didn't happen to him. That was his last conscious thought before he, too, drifted off to sleep.

She woke up slightly confused, a few hours later, not quite remembering how they'd ended up at the beach house. She remembered the beach, the pier, Starbucks… telling Kurt that she didn't need a nap because she'd just drank coffee… and yet here she was, laying in the bedroom that she recognized, as her eyes slowly opened, as being in their beach house. Smiling happily, she noted that Kurt's arm was draped over her waist and his hand was holding hers. She didn't think she could ever get tired of that small gesture of affection.

He'd felt her stir slightly, and guessed that she was now awake. He'd only awoken a few minutes before, and simply laid there, enjoying the moment of being so close to her. "What time is it?" he whispered from behind her, unable to see the clock that lay on the bedside table in front of her.

"4:37," she replied in a sleepy voice. Her eyes fell closed again. She knew that they needed to get up soon, since they were supposed to meet Sarah and Sawyer at 5:30, but there was still a little time left. She felt him lay her forehead against the back of her neck, and she couldn't help the same rush of affection for him that she'd felt so many times over the course of that weekend – and if she was being honest with herself, so many times over the course of the time they'd known each other. The difference now, of course, was that she was no longer telling herself it was nothing.

"How'd you sleep?" he whispered.

To his amusement, he could hear the smile in her voice when she replied, "It was the best nap _ever_ ," which made him chuckle.

"Good," he said, laying a gentle kiss against the top of the oil derrick tattoo that stuck up from beneath her t-shirt at the base of her neck. She leaned back against him while also pulling his arm tighter around her, now as close to him as she could get. Neither of them moved for a few minutes after that, and Kurt swore that from the sound of her breathing, she'd fallen asleep again. That was okay with him. It was fair to say that just then, he had absolutely no complaints.

The next time she opened her eyes, the clock read 5:02. As her brain attempted to process the numbers, she detected something else, the sensation of his fingers in her hair, moving against her scalp. "Mmmmmm that's nice to wake up to," she whispered, leaning back toward him as she attempted to see him over her left shoulder. "Why do you have to be doing that when we have to get up?" she asked quietly.

"Sorry," he chuckled. He'd been playing with her hair since the last time she'd woken up and fallen back to sleep. It wasn't something he was doing to try to wake her up, more just because he couldn't help himself. The tattoos on her skin that was closest to him were covered up just then, so he'd found something new to do to occupy himself. He forced himself to stop, sliding his hand to her shoulder, resting it on her t-shirt sleeve.

"We don't really need food, do we?" she asked maneuvering herself slowly so that she could turn over and face him. He moved his hand off of her shoulder to let her move more easily, waiting until she was still before covering her right hand, now laying on the bed between them, with his left.

"Speak for yourself," he told her in his best mock serious voice, his eyes not leaving her face. " _I_ definitely need pizza."

"Right, of course you do," she laughed. "How could I forget?"

He leaned towards her, almost as if in slow motion, and kissed her equally slowly, pulling back only when it became necessary to come up for air. She blushed, though she couldn't be sure why, and watched him smile back at her.

"What was that for?" she asked quietly.

He looked like he might laugh then, his eyes twinkling, and he replied, "Who said I needed a reason? Except, of course… _you_." She smiled, biting her lip and not sure what to say, which he took as a good thing. He'd never seemed to be able to find the right words before, not even with _her_ most of the time, and yet somehow this weekend, the beach had had some kind of magical effect on him. Finally, he felt like he was doing things right. How else could he explain how happy she looked?

Lifting his head up to look behind her, he sighed. "5:11. We need to get up. It's not far to walk, but it's not next door." She made a face at him that expressed her displeasure at the idea, but he just kissed the tip of her nose and then leaned back. Then, using every bit of willpower that he possessed, he let go of her hand and rolled himself over, toward the far edge of the bed. Slowly bringing his feet over the side to rest on the floor and rubbing his eyes, he looked back at her and saw that she hadn't moved, other than to roll onto her back.

"If you're not up in two minutes, I'm getting you up," he told her as he stood and walked slowly towards the door. He paused in the doorway, turning around to look at her, and saw her eyes open a crack.

"Is that a threat or a promise?" she asked, arching her eyebrow at him playfully.

"I guess you'll find out if you don't get up," he told her teasingly, knowing that he had probably just guaranteed that she wouldn't get up until he came back. He went down the hall to the bathroom, and among other things, after washing his hands, he swished mouthwash in his mouth to erase the stale taste that had moved in while he slept.

Two minutes later he was back at the bedroom door, and found that he'd been right, she'd remained exactly where she'd been when he'd last been there. "Time to get up," he told her, walking toward the bed as her eyes opened once again. The look on her face dared him to do whatever it was he was going to do to get her up. "Okay, you asked for it," he told her seriously, shaking his head and standing above her.

Turning and leaning down, he lowered himself to the bed on his hands and knees until he was aligned with her, positioning his knees on either side of her legs and then lowering himself slowly over her, his hands braced against the bed a few inches from each of her shoulders. She was looking at him in confusion. This was totally unlike anything that had happened in this room up until now…

 _How is this supposed to make me get up?_ she wondered, feeling slightly frantic and _very_ confused.

He stared into her eyes, lowering his face closer and closer to hers until only inches separated them, and then not even that. She could smell the mouthwash on his breath, and she was sure that he was going to kiss her… except that he didn't. He froze in place, his face not even an inch from hers, and looked directly into her eyes, in which he detected a mixture of excitement and anxiety all at once. He held that position for what felt like an agonizingly long time to her, but wasn't actually more than thirty seconds, at the most.

"You have to get up now," he whispered. And then just like that, he leaned back, sitting up on his knees and then climbing backwards, off the bed, stepping out of reach just in time as Jane swung at him playfully.

"You're never, ever allowed to tell me I'm a tease, ever again!" she called, as she almost jumped out of bed after him. She punched him playfully in mock exasperation as she walked past him toward the bathroom, still shaking her head and mumbling under her breath. He chuckled, his senses still tingling a little from the risky way that he'd gotten her up, but commending himself on having gotten the job done. That could have gone _very_ differently, after all, and they may not have made it out of the room at all, had things been just a little different.

He walked down the hall to the small living room, just inside the front door where they'd left their sandals and the green bag. While he waited for her, he slipped his sandals back on and picked up the bag, opening it to check his phone.

There were a few teasing texts from Sarah, the last of which said, _Are we still on for dinner at 5:30? Or did you guys change your minds? "Naps" can do that to a person…_

He shook his head at her and typed. _We'll be there. It was an actual nap, for your information._ Chuckling, he put the phone back in the bag, setting it down as he heard the bathroom door open.

She emerged from the bathroom and saw him across the room, already wearing his sandals and watching her playfully. She walked towards him slowly, her eyes locked on him as if targeted by a laser guidance system, stopping directly in front of him and looking into his eyes intently. "I want to get one thing straight," she told him seriously.

"Oh?" he asked. "What's that?" Try as he might, he couldn't help but grin after what he'd done to get her out of bed.

He was surprised then, as he stood there grinning at her, when she leaned forward quickly, and far more forcefully than he was expecting, kissing him insistently for a full minute. Just when he started to lose touch with his senses, as overloaded as they were from what was happening between the two of them, she pulled back suddenly, both of them out of breath and standing there, staring at each other. He swore she looked just as surprised as he did, which brought a slow smile to his face.

"What?" she asked, finally catching her breath enough to speak. He smiled in slight bewilderment, shaking his head slightly.

"Nothing," he replied innocently, then took a half step towards her. "Anything else you want to say?" She slapped his arm playfully, looking down and wondering what in the world she'd just done, and _what_ to do now…

His expression immediately softened, teasing finished for the time being, and he laid his hand gently against the skin of her arm just below where her t-shirt sleeve stopped. He rubbed gently up and down her arm from that spot down to just past her elbow several times, until she finally looked up at him. He leaned down and kissed her forehead, and she immediately had the sense that, despite what had just happened, everything was fine. The slight panic that she had felt began to subside, replaced by a warm glow and a sheepish grin.

Of course, he was _not_ going to complain about what she'd just done, but he also didn't necessarily see it as any kind of sign. He could see that she needed reassurance of this, and so he'd pulled back from the faster, more aggressive speed that they'd just suddenly jumped up to, back to where he knew she was comfortable. That was fine. This was Jane, and as long as she was by his side, or in this case, in front of him, that was totally alright.

"Come on, we need to get going," he told her in a low voice. She just smiled, slipping her sandals on her feet and picking up the bag from the floor to put it over her left shoulder.

"I'm ready," she told him. "Do you have the key?"

"Right here," he replied, holding it up as they walked through the door. He locked it behind them, and they set off for the restaurant… only a few minutes late, but well worth it in the end.

XXX

Sarah looked up as they approached the table. "Hey, you guys! How was your _nap_?" she cried, a little _too_ happily, her eyes dancing with laughter. They were only five minutes late, not bad, all things considered. Jane knew for a fact that they didn't look disheveled, nor did they have any reason to. Still, it was hard not to blush just a little when Sarah was looking at them the way she was… like she knew exactly what they'd been up to.

 _She just_ _ **thinks**_ _she knows,_ Jane reminded herself. _She's using her imagination. She probably thinks a_ _ **lot**_ _of things that didn't actually happen._

Smiling back at Sarah, Jane replied, "Great. I don't know why I was so tired… but I feel a million times better. I swear, that beach house is magical."

Without a word, Kurt leaned over to her, turning all the way around so that he was facing away from Sarah, toward the wall behind Jane, and whispered in her ear, "Just the house, huh?" She bit her lip to keep from laughing, and when he turned back to sit beside her as if he hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, she gave him a peck on the cheek.

When he continued to wear a slightly injured expression, she leaned her face against his, whispering, "You're not too bad, either," fully aware of Sarah's rapt attention. Avoiding it, however, was a lost cause, and they both knew it. Now looking back up at Sarah, who was watching them with nearly uncontrollable glee on her face, Jane grinned and rolled her eyes.

"Hey, Uncle Kurt! Hey Jane!" Sawyer called, walking back across the restaurant from the bathroom and sitting down beside his mother.

"Hey, buddy," Kurt greeted him. "Did you make it back to the beach after your mom got some coffee?"

Sawyer nodded happily. "Yep, we did," he replied. "We found a new spot, and I started a new sandcastle, which was way better than the one I built this morning," Sawyer told him enthusiastically. "It was _awesome_."

The three adults all smiled at Sawyer's excitement. Just then, a waitress approached their table, asking if they were ready to order. Jane and Kurt hadn't even noticed the menus on the table in front of them, so they asked her for a few more minutes. When Jane picked up the menu in front of her, Kurt simply leaned over her shoulder to look at it along with her. Never mind that Sarah was staring openly at them now, a grin spread across her face a mile wide. He honestly didn't care… though he did wish that he could have gotten her to stop.

"Mom, we're getting pepperoni, right?" Sawyer piped up loudly. Trying to ignore whatever strange unspoken game the adults seemed to be playing.

"Yes," Sarah assured him, "one pepperoni pizza for sure. How many pizzas do we need?" she asked, looking across the table at Kurt suspiciously. "How hungry _are_ you right now?"

"Tough question," Kurt replied, thinking hard. "We could get two, and then if it's not enough…" Jane and Sarah both shook their heads at the thought that two pizzas wouldn't be enough. "…then we'd just need some dessert or something. That sounds logical, right?" He looked from one of them to the other, seeing the amused looks on their faces.

"Right!" cried Sawyer, who'd only started listening when his uncle had said the word "dessert." That didn't matter, however, and whatever he'd said about dessert was okay by Sawyer.

The two women chuckled, exchanging looks. Kurt's hands had dropped to his lap, and from there his right had moved to Jane's leg, now resting lightly just above her left knee.

"So what should the second pizza be?" Sarah asked, attempting to get a decision out of the other two before they got lost in their own world. They were already glancing more and more frequently at each other with goofy smiles, and she wasn't sure how long it would be before she lost them altogether. Not that she wasn't okay with them being so happy… but pizza was the first priority.

Kurt, however, took his pizza toppings very seriously. "Sausage? Green pepper? Barbecued chicken? Ham?" Suggestions just continued to spill from him as the two women shook their heads. Sarah held up a hand to stop him.

"Okay, okay, that's enough," she laughed. "Are you saying you want _all_ of those things on one pizza? Because I think that's too much." Then again, coming from her brother, it wouldn't surprise her.

Jane just smiled, really not concerned about what was on the pizza. Yet again, she felt like she was dreaming, surrounded by a little bubble of happiness. She would eat anything – or nothing – if she was allowed to be here in this moment.

"I can agree to one of those meats, plus whatever vegetables you want," Sarah continued. "What do you think, Jane?"

Kurt turned and looked at her, concern flaring for a second as he relived various moments when she'd been asked her opinion on foods, back in the first few months he'd met her, especially, before she'd _had_ an opinion, back when such a question had thrown her into a state of frustration and in some cases, panic. He knew for a fact that she now knew what she liked on her pizza, and yet… old habits die hard, he supposed.

Jane shrugged, smiling at Sarah. "I agree that _all_ of those things on one pizza would be too much," she said, glancing at Kurt and then unable to help but burst out laughing at the look of disappointment on his face. She managed to whisper, "Sorry," to Kurt, leaning her forehead against his cheek for a few seconds, overcome with the adorable face he was making at her in an attempt to influence her decision in his favor. Still, it didn't change her mind.

"So," Sarah attempted to say between bursts of her own laughter, "which meat is it gonna be, Kurt?" He narrowed his eyes at his sister, then glanced at Jane once more before the look of mock distress melted from his face, replaced once more by this trademark smile.

"Sausage? With green pepper?" he asked, looking from one of them to the other. They both nodded.

The waitress came back then, asking if they had decided. Kurt ordered the two pizzas, plus four sodas, and the waitress disappeared again. Jane was already feeling uncomfortable under Sarah's scrutiny, which only seemed to be getting more intense as the minutes wore on.

Thankfully, Sawyer was relatively oblivious to what was going on, and he was just as happy to chat a mile a minute as he'd been back when Jane had first met him, when he was nine. He chatted about the sandcastles he'd built, the kids he'd met that day, the beach, the boardwalk, the various people they'd run into and funny things that he'd thought of… anything and everything that came to his mind.

Sawyer continued to dominate the conversation, during which time Sarah kept glancing at Jane and Kurt. If anything, they seemed to look even more relaxed and happy now that the attention was on Sawyer. Sarah knew that she'd been staring at them too much, but she simply couldn't help it. She vowed to herself to try to control her glee, turning her attention back to her son.

Before long, the pizza was delivered, and there was a blissful few minutes when no one spoke, everyone enjoying their first bites. By the time Sawyer was halfway through his first piece of pizza, though, he was talking excitedly again, which was pretty much how the meal went. Despite the fact that he was _not_ one of the ones who'd had a nap, his energy seemed to be boundless.

Jane and Kurt were perfectly happy to let Sawyer have all of the attention, because it meant that Sarah wasn't staring quite as blatantly at _them_. She limited herself to the occasional gleeful glance, probably imagining herself to be subtle, despite the fact that she really wasn't. They didn't mind though… well, not too much.

Since Kurt needed to use his hands to eat, he compensated for the loss of contact between his hand and her leg by leaning his right leg toward her left so that their knees touched. Besides that, their fingers brushed against each other once in a while, when their hands rested on the table between bites. They didn't go out of their way to be obvious, but they also didn't go out of their way to _hide_ these gestures, Sarah was noticing more and more. She took that as a very good sign.

One by one, the four of them all sat back, declaring themselves stuffed. They had eaten one and a half of the two pizzas between them, so they had a few more pieces left for later.

"And you were worried about having _enough_ ," Jane teased Kurt playfully as he maneuvered the check away from both his sister and Jane.

"I never said I was worried," he replied matter-of-factly. "I just had a back-up plan. It's an occupational hazard." He just grinned from her to Sarah.

 _It was true_ , Jane realized. _In just about every situation we encounter at work, we have to have a back-up plan._ She just smiled and shook her head at him.

"Wait, does this mean we can't get ice cream?" Sawyer asked, only now realizing that his uncle's plan probably wasn't being put into action after all.

"Not right now," Sarah told him firmly.

"Later?" he asked hopefully as they left the restaurant.

"We'll see," she told him. He seemed to accept this answer for the time being. Then, looking at her watch, she turned to Jane and Kurt. "So, do you know anything else about this mystery concert?" she asked them.

The two shook their head. "No, but we can head back that way and see what information they have posted," Kurt said, turning to Jane for confirmation. She nodded, looking back at Sarah.

"Okay," Sarah replied, knowing that she should let her brother and Jane go off on their own again after their dinner together. "Well I for one would like to go back and change…" Sawyer began to protest before Sarah had even finished her sentence, and she held up a hand to tell him to hear her out. "…and then," she continued, looking at her son pointedly, "we can wander back up here if something's happening. Are you guys wandering up that way?"

Jane and Kurt exchanged glances. He'd already reached for her hand while Sarah had been talking, and Jane squeezed his in silent agreement. "Yeah, we might as well," he said.

"Well, why don't you let us know if you find out anything?" Sarah suggested. "And otherwise maybe we'll run into you later." Jane and Kurt both nodded their assent to this plan.

"In that case," Kurt said, digging the hand that wasn't holding Jane's into his pocket, "you'll need this." He pulled out the keys to the beach house, handing them to his sister.

"Right, I will," she replied with a smile. "And, you may as well let me take the leftover pizza," she told Jane, who handed her the white box. "Alright, so… let us know if you find anything out, and if we don't see you back down here later, then… we'll see you in the morning?" There was just a hint of glee in her voice once again. Jane could relate to the inflection in Sarah's voice. She was feeling somewhat gleeful herself just then.

"Yes," Kurt said, "We'll see you later… or tomorrow."

"Okay…" Sarah said drawing out the word slightly, "have fun, you guys."

"Thanks," Jane replied, "you too."

Their goodbyes sufficiently exchanged, the two pairs went their separate ways. Jane and Kurt walked in silence for a few seconds, concentrating on dodging the other tourists on the increasingly crowded sidewalk. As they stopped at a crosswalk to wait to cross to the other side of Atlantic Avenue, Kurt sighed and shook his head. "Wow… Sarah was just…" He paused, trying to think of the right words to describe his sister.

"She's really happy for you," Jane supplied. "It's pretty obvious."

He chuckled and nodded in agreement. "That's true," he conceded, "though that doesn't quite cover it. I was going to say… _exhausting in her enthusiasm about us_." Now it was Jane's turn to chuckle. She couldn't exactly argue with him, and yet she knew, just as she knew that Kurt did, that his sister's heart was in the right place. They continued across the street along with the growing crowds, not making particularly good time to their destination, Neptune Park, about seven blocks away, but not particularly concerned. He let go of her hand and yet again laid his arm across her shoulders, drawing her closer.

"That's better," he murmured into her ear. "I wanted to do that all through dinner."

"Oh, you did?" she replied, looking up at him as they walked, her arm sliding across his back as well. As soon as they were back in their now familiar position, walking down the sidewalk, everything felt more in balance, more the way it was supposed to be.

When they finally reached Neptune Park, it was obvious that _something_ was happening. There was a flurry of activity on the stage of the small amphitheater, instruments being set up but nothing distinguishing that told them what exactly would be happening there. A sign along the edge of the small park read, _Free Concert Tonight, 8pm, Very special guest_ , but there didn't seem to be any other information available.

He took a picture of the sign and sent it to Sarah, with the text _So far, this is all we know._ She wrote back in seconds, saying simply, _Okay, thanks._

A waist level, thick brick wall separated the wide sidewalk that ran between Catch 31, where they'd eaten dinner the night before, and the edge of Neptune Park. The sidewalk ended at the boardwalk, and it was crowded with people walking in all directions. Jane and Kurt found themselves standing beside the brick wall, where the sign was posted. People were beginning to climb onto the brick wall to sit, which seemed like a smart idea to Kurt.

"If we claim a place on the wall now, it'll be a great place to watch the show from," he observed, moving them closer to the wall even as he spoke. Many other people seemed to have had the same idea, and space on the wall was rapidly disappearing.

"Sounds good to me," she agreed, and they pulled themselves carefully up onto the wall. It was just wide enough at the top that they could, for the moment, sit sideways comfortably, facing the boardwalk, and beyond it, the ocean. Sitting this way, Neptune Park was on their left, Catch 31 on their right, as was the steady flow of people walking by. Since they'd turned sideways, Kurt sat with one leg on each side of the wall, and Jane on the wall in front of him, her legs crossed. Glancing behind her at the small but still unacceptably too large space between them, she scooted herself backwards until she was leaning against him.

He couldn't help but smile when she leaned back against him, his arms automatically wrapping around her and his head leaning over her shoulder until his cheek was against hers. "Better?" he asked.

"Perfect," she replied with a smile. He chuckled, unable to argue.

The next day would be Sunday, the day they both dreaded, when their perfect weekend would end, but just then… neither of them allowed themselves to think any further forward in time than that moment. Tourists continued to flow around them, both on the sidewalk to their right and the grass to their left, filling in the space between them and the stage at the other end of the small, grassy park as instruments were set up and readied for use on stage.

The reality of tomorrow was definitely approaching, but thankfully, they weren't there yet.


	17. Seeing Stars

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot or The GooGoo Dolls or any of their music (specifically, the songs, "Over and Over," "Better Days," or "Long Way Home"). Writing about Blindspot is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

They'd been lucky to get those seats on the wall when they did, because it wasn't long before they realized that they had the most sought after spots within range of the stage. Not fifteen minutes after they'd climbed up, there wasn't a spot to spare, and the standing room in front of them was already filling up as well, as people slowly packed tighter and tighter in against each other.

Their green bag sat tucked under Jane's legs on the wall, so that it didn't get trampled or forgotten. Jane herself had changed position, still leaning back against Kurt, now with her knees tucked up close in front of her, her feet resting flat on the wall as she faced the boardwalk and the ocean in the distance, the stage across the park to their left. He still sat straddling the wall, one leg on each side, as close behind her as he could. His right arm wrapped around her middle, his hand resting on her knee, while his left traced the ink under her skin along her left arm, back and forth between her elbow and her shoulder.

He'd pushed both of the short sleeves of her t-shirt up onto her shoulders at some point, and had been surprised when she hadn't objected. Surprisingly enough to her, as well, she didn't mind – after all, what was another few inches of tattoos in the grand scheme of things? That small section of her arms wasn't going to change anything, other than to give him more skin to work with – and she was definitely in favor of _that…_ especially because every once in a while he would rest his chin against one of her bare shoulders and lean his head against the base of her neck.

Her head was leaned back and to the right, against him, and her wavy hair hung down in front of the left side of her face, the bird tattoo on her neck squarely on display. She hadn't given it a care in the world, despite the fact that, as usual, her tattoos _did_ draw attention as they sat there on the wall.

She'd watched people go by for a while, noticing the double takes that some of them did when they spotted her, and had decided that she preferred to close her eyes. Tuning out the noise of the strangers' voices, whether or not they were talking about her, she focused on the feel of Kurt's arms around her as she leaned into him. Somehow she just decided to forget that the rest of the world even existed, much less that they were paying any attention to her at all.

 _You've come full circle,_ a voice in her head told her _, if you're_ _ **choosing**_ _to forget._ She chuckled to herself at the thought, which made Kurt lean down beside her ear, whispering "What's so funny?" before kissing her on the cheek.

She opened her eyes and looked at him, as much as she could considering that their faces were so close together that eye contact was difficult. "I was just thinking," she said quietly, having turned toward him to speak closer to his ear, the same way he had spoken into hers, "how funny it was to sit here like this and close my eyes and just let myself forget about all the people around us and whether anyone was looking at me." She paused as he nodded, and she added, "It occurred to me that for me to be actively, voluntarily forgetting things… it just seemed a little funny when I thought about it."

There was no hint of sadness in her voice, but he turned and leaned back, looking her squarely in the face just to be sure. Many things that dealt with her past were many sensitive topics, of course, but he was relieved to see that her expression was actually the picture of contentment.

Smiling back at him, she noticed the surprise on his face and knew what he'd been thinking. He was sweet to be concerned. For quite a while now, since they'd repaired their relationship over the past year, he'd shown only the utmost concern for her, erring on the side of a little _too much_ at times. Given their history, and how hard she knew that he had worked to rebuild trust between them, however, it made perfect sense.

Yet again, the looks that were exchanged between them were like a conversation. _Are you okay?_ his eyes asked. _Everything's fine,_ hers replied. _Nothing to worry about. Really._

Once he was satisfied that she really wasn't upset, and that her laughter had been genuine, he allowed himself to smile. "It is a little funny, when you think about it," he agreed softly. She looked up at the sky over the ocean, the light quickly fading from it, then realized that at this hour they were facing the wrong direction.

Jane turned her head, peering around his shoulder and up towards the sky, letting out a surprised "Wow," before her brain could even process her reaction. The sky that was visible between the buildings was lit up with color, a swirling mix of red, orange, pink and even a streak of dark purple where a cloud sat at the edge of the other colors as they melted into the darkening sky. Kurt turned to see what she was looking at, putting his hand down behind him to steady himself – and therefore, both of them – on the wall as he turned.

"Obviously we're facing the wrong direction," he said from beside her. "Do you want to switch sides?" It made sense, of course, since she wouldn't be able to see much if she sat behind him… so she nodded and he hopped down, shaking his head at a few very excited people standing nearby who thought that they were getting a chance at a prime spot on the wall. Jane turned and moved into the spot that he had occupied a minute before, and Kurt hopped back up, taking his place behind her as they settled comfortably into the same position they'd been in, now facing the sunset.

She hadn't thought that it was possible to improve on the way they'd been sitting, but she suddenly found that sitting there and watching the sunset with him made it even better. She sighed happily, feeling the scruff on his chin brush against her skin where her neck met her shoulder, just inside the neckline of her t-shirt. She leaned her head away so that she could look at him, turning at just enough of an angle that he could turn and kiss her cheek. She grinned, leaning her forehead against the side of his head, her system flooded with more happiness than she had known that it was possible for one person to feel.

"I'm dreaming, right?" she asked him. "I mean, I must be…"

"Not even a little bit," he replied sincerely. She smiled so hard, she decided she must look fairly ridiculous, but she didn't care. She liked this feeling too much to let feeling silly stop her.

Pulling their bag from under her legs, Jane opened it and pulled out her phone. 7:52. The concert should be starting very soon. Before she put it away, not even sure why she did it, she opened the camera app, pressing the button that reversed the camera back on the person holding it. She wasn't big on taking pictures – even before the… _uncomfortable_ way she'd spent the previous summer, she'd never been big on photography. After all, what was there to take pictures of? She didn't know anything about her past, much less what was worth remembering from the present. But very slowly over the past year she had allowed the habits of her friends and teammates to begin to rub off on her. Patterson and Zapata had been known to snap the occasional picture when they were out for girls' night, and Jane couldn't help but feel like just then, she and Kurt probably looked especially adorable. So why not?

 _Besides Patterson and Zapata, Sarah must be rubbing off on me, too,_ she thought to herself in amusement, realizing that the thought that they probably looked _adorable_ sounded like a very "Sarah" thing to say.

She held the phone at arms' length in front of her and attempted to frame their faces in the middle. Kurt didn't notice what she was doing at first, but after she nudged him and said, "Hey, look up," she could suddenly see his blue eyes in the frame as well. Of course, the sunset was in front of them and therefore not in the picture, but that was okay. There was just enough light left, between what was left of daylight and the streetlights above them, to give the picture the perfect glow. Not too dark, not too bright. Kurt even smiled, obviously amused at Jane's new habit, leaning his cheek against hers.

"Since when did you start taking selfies?" he purred in her ear once she put her phone back down, closing the camera app. She shrugged against him, blushing slightly.

"I don't know," she replied, slightly embarrassed, "I guess I picked it up from Patterson, mainly..." He chuckled at her, shaking his head in amusement. He was still close enough to her that his face brushed against her with each shake of his head, and she felt chills go down her spine. No matter what he said, she was almost sure that she _was_ dreaming, and that was fine with her. As long as no one woke her up from this dream, she had no objection.

She clicked the button on her phone and the screen lit up again. The time now 7:57. There was nothing happening onstage to indicate what would happen next, so her eyes wandered back to the sunset. "Almost time," he said into her ear.

 _I could get used to having him talk into my ear all the time,_ she thought to herself. She just nodded against his cheek, without turning around.

Just then, a buzz spread through the crowd. As she turned her head toward the stage, she noticed that the crowd now stood tightly packed between where they sat on the wall and the stage at the other end of the grassy park. If there was any space in there anywhere, she couldn't see it. Once again, she thought about how lucky they were to have found seats on the wall, giving them not only a place to sit, but an unobstructed view of whatever was about to happen.

Apparently someone could see something happening, though Jane and Kurt couldn't see it from where they were. Jane shifted her weight so that she was turned to face the stage, leaning her right shoulder against Kurt's chest and folding her legs down beside her on the wall. He shifted slightly as well, though he didn't turn to face the stage completely, like she did. His left arm was draped behind her, somewhere across her lower back, his right hand on her right knee and clasped in both of hers.

The first indication that the show was starting was a few low, quiet notes. The sky was suddenly almost completely dark, and the streetlights behind them over the path didn't shed light far enough for them to see what was happening on the stage. The music got louder and faster, and from above the stage, bright green searchlights suddenly began swinging back and forth together to the beat, crossing each other in time to the music. The crowd was excited, and already there were loud cheers as the music continued to intensify. Jane had nothing to compare this experience to, and so she sat, transfixed, wondering what would come next.

And then the lights came on to reveal a man at the microphone in the center of the stage, as well as several others on various instruments, and the song started in earnest. Jane didn't know the song, of course, so she just let the lyrics wash over her as she sat and listened in awe.

" _Picking up the pieces out, they left you in again  
Love is all you want but you're never gonna feel the same  
It's hard to be yourself when everyone around is changing  
Open up your eyes and you'll never lose yourself again_

 _And we go over and over and over again  
Are ya lost in the past thinking what might have been?  
You're here and you're now, started over and then  
Take it over and over and over again."_

Jane sat, stunned, as she listened to the music. The spotlights changed colors and moved back and forth as she reminded herself to breathe. She couldn't help but feel like this song had been written for her. _But how?_ She just didn't have enough experience with music to realize that there were just times when songs could do that to a person.

Listening to the lyrics, Kurt knew immediately where Jane's mind would go – it wasn't too hard to guess. He pulled his arms more tightly around her, clasping them around her waist on her left side, since he was still sitting sideways against her on her right. She responded by leaning into him, her head falling against his chest, and if he wasn't mistaken, he thought he felt her move as if taking a sharp intake of breath. He smiled, holding on tighter as he kissed the top of her head and then looked back at the stage as the spotlights changed from blue, to purple, to green.

 _This is a fitting end to the weekend,_ he thought, as the song launched into the chorus, and pink lights momentarily illuminated smoke that shot up suddenly into the air behind the lead singer. Even though he hated to think about the fact that their beach weekend was actually ending, he couldn't deny that there wasn't much that would've ended it better. The fact was, the weekend was going to end whether he wanted it to or not. Yes, it was only Saturday night, and technically they weren't leaving until Sunday at noon, but somehow this still felt like the end. The next day, the hours remaining would tick by far too quickly, down to nothing…

Coming back to the present time as the first song ended, he chided himself for getting so far ahead of the current moment. He was the one who'd assured Jane that everything would be fine. Therefore, he needed to take his own advice and relax. They didn't know exactly _how_ they would work it out, all he knew was that they would. Of all the things they'd already been through, this would _not_ be the one that was insurmountable.

The first song ended and the crowd roared its approval. Jane glanced around as the colored spotlights danced through the darkness, illuminating the people who were now tightly packed even out onto the boardwalk and past it, some who preferred more space standing further back, on the beach. The lights just then looked purplish, and they gave the crowd an otherworldly glow. _Now I_ _ **know**_ _I'm dreaming_ , she thought to herself.

Of course, she didn't know any of the songs, but the next one was starting, so she once again focused her attention on the stage.

The concert went on like this, song after song. Some of the lyrics spoke to Jane more than others, but even the ones that didn't left her feeling like she was in some sort of trance, unable to look away from the stage… not that she wanted to. She had Kurt holding onto her tightly, and there was nothing else that she could have needed. She even remembered to take a few pictures of the staged bathed in the constantly changing colored lights.

At one point a slower song started as the lights on the stage stopped flashing and just softly illuminated the lead singer, bathing him in blue light as he sang. More than any other song she'd heard so far, the lyrics of this one took her breath away.

" _And you asked me what I want this year  
And I try to make this kind and clear  
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days  
'Cause I don't need boxes wrapped in strings  
And designer love and empty things  
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days_

 _So take these words and sing out loud  
'Cause everyone is forgiven now  
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again."_

Chills ran through her body so hard that she actually felt herself shudder, and she felt tears in her eyes that hadn't been there a few seconds before. Kurt had felt the movement as well, since they were already so close together, and could sense the change in her as she tensed. He just pulled her even closer yet, which she hadn't thought possible, leaning his face into her cheek.

"Sssshhhh," he said soothingly, knowing that words were neither necessary nor would they really do justice to what he wanted to say just then. He found that he was unexpectedly emotional as well.

The concert continued, blending together into a string of lights and sounds and colors, both of them sometimes hearing the words and sometimes just overwhelmed by the experience, but always pressed tightly against the other, as if some unseen force might try to pry them apart if they didn't. There was no other word for this night, or indeed, this weekend. It was _perfect_.

The show had been going for more than an hour and it seemed unlikely that there was much more left. Jane didn't know any of the songs, of course, but she noticed that the band had launched into an uptempo one that seemed to be getting a lot more in the lighting effects department than most of the others, and she guessed that it might be the last song. Therefore, she tried even harder to memorize everything about that moment as the music swelled around her.

" _I see the darkness and it's following me here  
To all the cracks and all the edges of your fear  
I know where you go  
You try to run away, but really you are falling  
Through endless shadows made of everything you thought it was  
Till you woke up._

 _When your hope is sinking like a stone  
I will take your hand, I will walk you home  
If you never try, you're never gonna know  
I will take you there, but you can't let go  
'Cause it's a long way home."_

She sat on the wall, completely overwhelmed, as Kurt continued to hold onto her tightly. There were simply no words for what she was experiencing. Her brain had long since stopped being able to sufficiently process the information that her senses were taking in, so she just sat and enjoyed the blissful sensory overload. She would happily have stayed right there, in that moment, if only she could have figured out a way to freeze time.

The song finished and the crowd roared. The band thanked them profusely for the chance to play for them, said good night and then they were gone. The crowd immediately came to life as the spotlights from the stage, now simply white, were turned outward into the park to help illuminate the area for the dispersing spectators.

Jane and Kurt sat still, remaining where they were on the wall. There was no rush, after all, and the area around them was relatively chaotic now that the tightly packed crowd was all trying to move at once. Kurt leaned down toward her ear once again, and asked, "So, what did you think?"

She just shook her head, not really having adequate words to voice her thoughts. "Wow," she replied simply. He chuckled against her, nodding in agreement.

"That's for sure," he mumbled in her ear before turning to lean his temple against the top of her head. For a while they just watched the crowd as the people talked and joked with others around them, gradually heading out of the park and back towards their next destinations – restaurants, bars, hotels… wherever they might be going.

 _This is nice,_ Jane thought, and not only because Kurt had his arms around her. No, she was noticing that in the dark like this, even with the streetlights, people didn't tend to give her a second look. She glanced down at herself, then up again. _She_ could easily see her tattoos… there seemed to simply be something about the dark, or maybe something to do with the fact that Kurt was holding onto her tightly, or maybe it was a combination of both. It wasn't just that she wasn't noticing people looking at her. This time, she was actively looking for any odd looks she might be getting… she just wasn't getting them.

 _Interesting_ , she thought, storing this tidbit of information away for the future. It didn't matter, of course, it was still something to note.

She was sure that it had been at least a half hour, if not more, since the concert had ended, but she'd put her phone away part way through the concert and she didn't feel like digging into her bag to take it out once again. It didn't matter, after all. The crowds were much thinner now, though there were certainly lots of people still out and about. It couldn't be much past eleven o'clock, if it was even that late, she guessed.

"Are you ready to get down off this wall?" Kurt asked her quietly. "We're going to be sore from sitting on these bricks, I think… at least I am… and it's only going to get worse the longer we stay up here."

Jane hadn't given another thought to it, but now that Kurt mentioned it, she _was_ feeling sore from sitting on the hard brick wall… She shifted and groaned slightly, thinking that maybe if she stayed still, the sensation would go away. It didn't, of course.

Kurt's arms dropped reluctantly from around her and he shifted himself over far enough that he could put down one hand on each side of him, then hopped down from the wall. Jane sighed as she moved her legs out from under her, so that they dangled in front of her as she faced Kurt. They both knew that she was more than capable of getting down from the wall herself. Indeed, after everything he'd seen her do in the field, she could have easily done far more than jump down from a brick wall a few feet tall and he wouldn't have been at all surprised. Still, that didn't stop him from putting out his hand to her, nor did it stop her from letting him take the green beach bag from her, or from taking his hand as she hopped down to the ground.

Standing up once again for the first time in several hours, everything on the back of Jane, from her lower back down to just above her knees, seemed to scream in pain for a few seconds, and she winced slightly as she stretched. She attempted to wait out the protest of her nerve endings, who were less than pleased with her choice of seating for the past few hours. After standing there for a few minutes the irritation seemed to abate, and she felt as though the damage wouldn't be permanent, after all.

"Ready?" Kurt asked, and she smiled up at him.

"Yep," she replied, taking the hand that he offered her.

"Do you want to go back?" he inquired, though he was fairly sure he knew her answer.

Thanks to their nap, she didn't feel tired yet. She knew that she _should_ feel tired, and that she didn't want to spend the next day sleeping away their last few hours at the beach… she just simply couldn't bear to willingly end their last day there together.

"Not yet," she replied almost pleadingly. He couldn't help but smile at her. Despite the fact that he knew morning would come early, and he had something in mind that would require him to somehow, miraculously, get her out of bed much earlier than usual, he couldn't help but indulge her. He knew exactly how she felt when she said _not yet_. He didn't want any of it to end yet, either.

"Let's walk back toward the beach, then," he suggested, and she nodded, a smile returning to her face after its momentary absence. There were plenty of people strolling along the boardwalk, though fewer on the sand. To her surprise, he headed for the steps that led down onto the beach. She had no objection to this, so she went along with him without complaint. They slipped off their sandals at the bottom of the stairs, and Jane opened the green bag without prompting so that they could put them inside.

She was surprised to find that the sand was cool, almost cold, under her feet. It felt very different from the sensation of it on her feet during the day, when it retained heat from the sun. She glanced down at her feet, as if expecting to actually see a difference, but no, everything looked just the same.

"It feels different, doesn't it?" he asked, noticing her looking down with a slightly puzzled expression. "It's amazing what a difference a little heat from the sun makes."

"Yeah," she agreed, looking back up and glancing out toward the ocean. It was so dark now, they really couldn't see exactly where the water was hitting the sand, though from the sound of things, the waves had increased from earlier that day, when they'd been so calm.

They walked partway down toward the water and then turned and continued parallel to it for a few minutes, passing several other couples who seemed to be out for a nighttime stroll. Then, as if he'd reached the spot he was looking for, he stopped, pulling her to a stop as well. "Look up," he told her quietly, all of a sudden. She did as he suggested, and was surprised at how many stars she could see.

She'd seen stars before, of course, mostly on her occasional trips outside of New York City. There hadn't been what she'd call _a lot_ of those trips, and many of them had been related to Sandstorm… but she tried not to remember the circumstances of the other times she'd looked up at the stars, only allowing herself the memory of having done it before.

It was impossible to be sure if this was the most stars she'd ever seen or not, but it was certainly right up there. Besides the occasional lamp posts that lined the boardwalk and dim lights from the hotels, there wasn't a lot of light here, at least not compared to New York City, so it made sense that there would be a decent view of the night sky.

He watched as she continued to stare upward, craning her neck to look in all directions at once. It reminded him of a time he'd done the same thing as a kid, and he remembered – too late allowing the full memory that included Sarah, his father and Taylor to wash over him, but shaking himself to recover quickly – what he had done to get a better look. It had been Taylor's idea, he recalled with a sad smile. He was slowly adjusting to be able to think about her without being overwhelmed by all the feelings about her, and his father, that used to so overwhelm him. It was easier because he was with Jane, and she always understood.

"Try this," he told her suddenly, breaking the spell that she felt like she was under, "you'll get a better view." Before she knew what was happening, he'd dropped her hand, sitting down in the cool sand and then lying back – right there in the middle of the beach, in the middle of the night, no towel or anything under him. He looked up at her expectantly, smiling the smile that she could never resist.

 _Why not?_ she thought, plopping down beside him and then turning so that when she lay back, she was at the same angle he was, and as close to him as she could be. Their shoulders touched, and she smiled at the sensation. Her sleeves were still pushed up over her shoulders, and she felt the cool sand under the back of her arms, as her left shoulder pressed against the comparably warm cotton of his t-shirt. Her head was turned to face him, and she had the simultaneous urges to both lay her head against his shoulder and shift somehow in order to bring her face closer to his. However, she did neither, simply continued to look at him.

He'd been looking at the stars, and when he sensed her laying still beside him without saying anything, he looked over at her to see that she was looking at _him_ instead of the sky. He smiled at her, shaking his head, and then tilted his head toward the sky. "Look _up_ , silly," he told her with a chuckle, glancing at the sky and then back at her. There was a slightly pouty expression on her face, and she continued to look at him. Shaking his head at her and smiling, he reached down for her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and bringing it up so that the back of her hand rested against his chest. He saw her smile then, and he asked, " _Now_ will you look up?"

Without a word, her eyes went from his face to the sky, where she was finally able to take in the full extent of the stars visible above them. He was right, the view was _much_ better this way, now that she didn't have to crane her neck to look around. She squeezed his hand, not finding any words that would be adequate to what she was feeling just then, just as she hadn't been able to do for the past few hours.

She'd long since grown accustomed to being overwhelmed – the feeling was as old as anything else that she remembered from her life as Jane, having started when she was discovered in Times Square. The difference tonight was that she wasn't used to being overwhelmed with _happiness_. Being overwhelmed with pain? Loneliness? Grief? Frustration? Those she understood. But happiness? Her heart threatened to burst with it now, and somehow, on the eve of having everything change _again_ , she felt paralyzed.

It was only his voice that brought her out of her thoughts then. "I used to lay like this at night sometimes. I'd sneak out in my backyard when I was supposed to be asleep… or even when we went camping and I couldn't sleep…" he said softly. She glanced over at him, but he was staring up at the stars. "When I was a kid, I would dream about whether or not there were aliens up in the stars… What they looked like… If they were friendly." He chuckled slightly, remembering, and she glanced back up, now looking at them differently, young Kurt Weller's thoughts bouncing around in her head.

"As I got older, I guess I got more practical, a little more serious... I would stare up at the stars and think about how many of them there were out there, and how I was only one of billions of people on _this_ planet out of so many planets, and how very, very small that made me. And all the things that I worried about – mostly Taylor, by then, because she was long since gone…" He paused then, and she heard the slightest break in his voice, but noticed that he didn't shudder that time, he just took a deep breath and kept going. "…but Sarah, too – everything I worried about suddenly seemed so unimportant. After all, I was barely a speck in the universe. What difference did any of it make?"

He stopped talking and Jane considered his words. She didn't think he was asking for an answer, necessarily, but she wanted to respond anyway. "That just makes what you do matter even more," she said quietly.

"How so?" he asked curiously, finally turning to look at her again.

"Just that… if there's so much out there, and if we're such tiny specks, then it's even easier to get lost along the way. We – those tiny little specks of whatever we are in the big picture – we need to stick together." She paused as if thinking about something, then added, "What's the expression? Strength in numbers?" He just nodded, looking from her face back up to the sky. "It just seems like if we're each so tiny and insignificant, the best way to get through it all is to…" she trailed off, looking up at the sky, unable to finish her own sentence.

 _You're not really one to talk about healthy coping strategies, after all,_ she reminded herself. Even now, there were plenty of days when she felt like she was just hanging on the best she could.

"Hold on tight and hope for the best?" he replied, his eyes still locked on the sky. She hadn't known what she wanted to say, exactly, but his suggestions sounded just as good as any other, if not better.

"Yeah," she replied softly. After that they both fell quiet, lost in their own thoughts as they stared at the sky. The cool sand below them kept her from quite drifting off to sleep, though she was slowly getting closer and closer.

After what felt like a short time, but, judging from how much emptier the beach and the boardwalk were when Jane's eyes flicked in that direction, was actually a good deal longer than she'd thought, Kurt was the first one to speak. "It's late," he said, lifting his head to look around. "We should head back and get some sleep."

Jane made a noise in protest, unwilling to concede that their final full day at the beach was ending. He propped himself up on his right elbow, leaning over her in the sand. "I had an idea of what we could do to make the most of the morning tomorrow, but it involves being awake enough, early enough, to do it," he told her, smiling warmly at her from only about a foot above her.

"Getting up _early_? Why?" she asked, frowning. _The end of the weekend_ _ **and**_ _I have_ __ _to_ __ _get up early?_ she thought with displeasure.

But the look on her face just made him smile. "You'll like it, I promise," he told her, leaning down until his face was only an inch above hers.

"Okay," she whispered, suddenly deciding that pouting wasn't worth it when he was that close to her. He leaned down and kissed her slowly, then leaned back with a smile on his face.

"Come on," he told her, "It's easier if we walk back now, while you can still walk with your eyes _open_ , not like this afternoon."

"Oh ha ha," she replied, "I had my eyes open."

He just shook his head at her. "Whatever you say," he said, kissing her on the forehead and then leaning back to push himself to his feet. He'd let go of her hand in order to do that, and now, as she sat up slowly, he offered it to her once again.

"Such a gentleman," she said with a smile, allowing him to help her up. Once they were both standing up, she realized in dismay that she was probably covered in sand all over again, as was he. She swiped at the backs of her arms and confirmed that yes, this was indeed the case. _This sand is really getting old_ , she thought, her increasing tiredness making her just a little grumpy.

"That's the only thing about laying down on the beach without a towel," he said, as if reading her mind. "You get covered in sand." She smiled when he brought his hands up to her shoulders, brushing the sand off of the back of them, and then moving up her neck, swiping at her skin quickly before moving upward, to her hair. He stepped to the side to try to look at the back of her head, but grinned and shrugged, moving back in front of her. "It's kinda dark at the moment," he said with a shrug, "so I'm just going to have to wing it."

Threading his fingers in her hair at the base of her scalp, he moved them gently, in short, quick shaking motions. She felt a little bit of sand rain down onto her shoulders, as well as a buzz in her head from the contact of all ten of his fingers being in her hair, against her skin, at once. After a few shakes there, his fingers changed position, moving higher into her hair and repeating the motion. She felt just a little lightheaded from what he was doing, not because he was shaking her head too much, just because she _liked_ it so much, and she put out a hand to steady herself. Her hand landed on his side, above his waist, and once it was there, she let it stay where it was.

His hands smoothed over the back of her hair now, shaking slightly once again, before moving back down to her shoulders, then lower, across her t-shirt, brushing across her back in the same area that he had applied sunblock so many times over the course of the weekend, but now making contact only with the fabric, not her skin. Then he stood back up in front of her, a slightly guilty smile on his face. He looked extremely amused with himself. "I can't guarantee it's _all_ gone," he told her, "but it's a good start."

"Thanks," she said, stepping to the side of him and brushing her hands across his shoulders, up to his neck and then ruffling the short hair at the base of his neck before running her fingers against his scalp, his short hair soft under her fingers. For some reason, she felt self-conscious doing it, despite the smile it brought to his face. She looked down, feeling herself blushing slightly, then moved back to his shoulders and his back, the way he'd done with her. Having finished returning the favor, she stepped back around to the front of him.

"I think you missed a spot," he told her.

"Oh really?" she asked, seeing through his ploy immediately. _He's so impossibly cute_ , she couldn't help but think. "And where's that?"

"I'm not really sure," he replied thoughtfully. "It's… somewhere back there." He waved his hand toward his back, and she just shook her head at him. "What?" he asked her teasingly. "Is it bad if I liked that?"

Now she was _really_ blushing, and she was thankful for the cover of darkness and the possibility, no matter how small, that he couldn't see the color in her cheeks. Though of course, he would know anyway. She picked up the beach bag and slung it over her shoulder, grateful for something else to focus on for a few seconds.

"Not at all," she replied, finally looking back at him. "Quite the opposite." She leaned closer to swipe half-heartedly at his back again, and he reached out an arm and pulled her closer.

"Come on," he said, taking her hand. "Let's go back."

"One second," Jane said, stopping and dropping his hand so that she could take out her phone. She clicked through the menus as quickly as she could, then typed out a text to Patterson and Zapata as he watched in amusement. He couldn't see what she was doing from his angle, but her rapid typing gave him a clue.

 _Saw a band called GooGoo Dolls next to the beach, then laid in the sand looking at the stars. Not a bad night._

She attached the selfie she'd taken of them earlier and one of the pictures she'd taken during the concert when the stage had been bathed in purple spotlights, and then hit send, replacing her phone in the bag and turning back to Kurt. "Ready," she said with a smile.

"Reporting in?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. She just shrugged. "They're _so_ curious, it's kinda fun to feed them crumbs," she grinned.

Kurt stepped towards her and put his arm across her shoulders as she reached out and mirrored the gesture across his back. They turned to walk slowly toward the steps that led back up to the boardwalk, both of them trying hard to think about anything other than the fact that the day really was over. The next day would be the one when they had to leave, and it made them hold on just a little tighter to each other than they would otherwise have as they walked back to the beach house in contented silence.

 _A/N: I chose the GooGoo Dolls because I saw them in concert a few months ago and so many of their songs seem to be perfect "Jeller songs," though they have never (and probably wouldn't be able to) played at the tiny amphitheater in Neptune Park. As much as I've tried to keep my facts realistic in this story, that part is creative license. Also, if my memory is correct, that brick wall is far shorter in reality than in my story. But… details, details. It worked better that way. And yes, there are at least three more chapters in this story at this point, two for Sunday and one for Monday… though my ideas do tend to expand, so more than three isn't out of the question. ;)_


	18. Sunday

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about them is simply the outlet for my obsession.**

 _A/N: Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter, but between my short Rich Dotcom inspired detour last week and the fact that I've been visiting MonkeyPajamas for the past few days, it took me a while to get a chance to finish it. Meanwhile, we did watch 30 episodes of Blindspot straight, which took 23 ½ hours (the 29 episodes that are out as of right now, plus an extra viewing of 109… because there was no WAY we were ending our binge with 206). And yes, we are crazy. Anyway, I hope this chapter was worth the wait. There are a few left, but not many._

When Kurt walked back into the bedroom after brushing his teeth, already wearing his pajamas, Jane was sitting on the bed, also changed for bed. Her legs were crossed in front of her and there was an uneasy look on her face, reminding him of when he'd walked into the room just before they'd gone to bed the night before. This time, however, the stuffed zebra sat in her lap. Her eyes were down, whether focused on the zebra or the bed he couldn't tell. As he closed the door, turning the lock, she looked up slowly. The swirl of emotions that was happening inside her was as plain as day just from the look on her face, and he smiled at her reassuringly.

He walked around to the other side of the bed and pulled the covers back as far as he could while she sat on the other side of them, then simply crawled up onto the bed to sit on her left, slightly behind her. She didn't say a word, didn't turn to look at him, simply continued the slow motion that he now saw her left hand moving in as she stroked the zebra's back. He couldn't help but smile at her, knowing all he needed to know without being told.

Without a word, he put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed gently, moving inwards until he'd reached her neck and then back out again. She hadn't said anything and still hadn't looked away from wherever she had focused her attention, but the tension he'd felt in her shoulders was slowly draining away. He could tell that once again, she was tired. According to the clock, it was after midnight, which meant that it was Sunday. He was nearly certain that this hadn't escaped her attention, and that on the contrary, it probably had a lot to do with her silence.

Finally feeling her relax slightly as his hands stopped moving but remained on her shoulders, he leaned his face close to hers and spoke quietly near her ear. "That's just not the same with your shirt on, is it?" he asked mischievously, then watched as she turned her head towards him almost immediately. Her face instantly grew pink, and a surprised smile and wide eyes were his reward. He chuckled, glancing down for a second and then back up at her. She was shaking her head at him, almost laughing.

"Taken out of context…" she began, still shaking her head, but decided that the rest of the sentence was unnecessary.

"Hey, it's the truth, isn't it?" he asked innocently.

She made a face, knowing that he had her on a technicality, then looked away from him. Before her mind could go to any of the places that it might have, however, he'd shifted so that he was sitting beside her at a 180 degree angle, and pulled his arms around her tightly, pulling her left shoulder and her head to lean against his chest and then kissed the top of her head. She'd let go of the stuffed zebra and now scooted herself closer to him as he pulled her in the rest of the way, so that in a second she was curled up in his lap. She breathed in and out slowly, her eyes closed, trying to calm her racing heartbeat.

"It's Sunday," she said quietly.

"That doesn't matter," he replied, his voice soft and reassuring. Still, he could feel her reluctance to believe him. It wasn't that she didn't _want_ to believe him, it was more that she _couldn't_.

He reached forward and pulled back the covers from her side of the bed, then managed to move the two of them off of the part of the blankets that they were sitting on just enough to pull them out from under him. Next, he somehow maneuvered them into the middle of the bed and scooted down slightly so that when he loosened his grip on her, which he did only reluctantly, they were both able to slide their legs easily under the blankets. Before she knew it, her head was on the pillow and she was staring up at him as he lay propped up against his right elbow, only inches separating them.

After several seconds of staring into each other's eyes, so that he was confident that he had her attention, he tried again. "It doesn't matter what day it is," he told her sincerely. "I love you. That's not going to change." The look on her face told him that she couldn't fully believe him, however.

She knew that her face was betraying her, and she hated it, but she couldn't help it. How could a person make that kind of a guarantee? No one knew the future. No one knew what kind of secrets another person held, or when or where they would be exposed. She knew _that_ from painful, first-hand experience. And yes, they'd promised not to have secrets from each other anymore. And yet…

It wasn't that she thought that he was keeping things from her. She believed that those days were over. But… how could he make a guarantee on his feelings? Once upon a time, she would have believed that kind of statement from him without question. But despite the intangible connection they'd had so long ago, _still_ everything had fallen apart – and that was putting it very diplomatically.

"You can't know that," she whispered, looking down at such a sharp angle that her eyes appeared to be closed.

He hated that she couldn't completely believe him, but he knew that hehad done _this_ to himself, with his own actions, and that it was up to him to now reassure her the best he could. Beyond that, all he could do was to try to continue to prove it to her, as many times as it took. He put an index finger under her chin and lifted her face back up to look at him. She didn't fight it.

"Maybe not," he conceded, looking into her eyes, "but I'm as sure of it _now_ as I am that my name is tattooed on your back. That has to count for something, right?" He reached down and found her right hand with his left under the covers, bringing it up to his chest and pressing her palm flat against his heart. The gesture was familiar and comforting, reminding them both of the long ago time when things had been, relatively speaking, simple between them.

She let her hand rest against his chest, feeling his heart beating as her own racing heartbeat gradually slowed, returning to normal. They continued to watch each other carefully for several minutes, until she finally smiled up at him. "I love you," she whispered. He smiled back at her, leaning forward to kiss her, releasing his left hand from on top of hers on his chest, replacing it with his right.

His left hand moved to the back of her neck, his thumb moving slowly against her skin. He remained very conscious of following her lead, and when she leaned back slightly to catch her breath, he did the same, the hand on her neck moving slowly upwards to the back of her head, his fingers threading through her hair. She continued to smile at him, and this time she was the one to lean forwards towards him, just the slightest bit more urgently. They didn't break apart again for far longer that time, and when they finally did, her heart was racing again, and she was out of breath. Not that that was difficult, because he seemed to have no problem taking her breath away.

Looking at him intensely, the gears in her mind began turning in earnest. She knew that it was terrible timing, but her thoughts couldn't help but flash back to her mistakes in the past, to Oscar, to her regrets… Not that she thought that she would in a million years regret _anything_ she might do _with_ Kurt, only what she had done _to_ him already… But still, that didn't stop her brain from bombarding her with questions that she couldn't answer, with _what ifs_ that she couldn't refute.

He watched the look on her face go from blissful to, within seconds, that look that she got when her brain was moving too fast and she was sabotaging herself. Her mind was an intensely complicated place, this much he knew, but their connection allowed him to also know that the best way to soothe her was to do exactly what he was doing – looking into her eyes, remaining close but not asking for anything, and maintaining contact with her – her hand was still under his, pressed against his chest. His left hand moved back down, out of her hair and back to her neck, his fingertips moving lightly across her skin and grazing the top of the oil derrick tattoo that stuck out above the neckline of her t-shirt. He couldn't see it from where he was, of course, but could feel the tiniest bit of a difference from the skin around it, where her skin was raised slightly.

Jane bent her head forward, sighing with the effort of her thoughts, and he leaned his forehead towards her until it rested on hers. No words were necessary for this exchange, it was simply understood. He would have done _anything_ for this woman, and yet really, all she required was a little extra compassion and understanding, things that he could easily provide. She asked so little else of him.

"We should get some sleep, I'm going to drag you out of bed early in the morning," he whispered, his forehead still leaned against hers.

"I'd like to see you try," she replied just as quietly, her eyes having already drifted closed.

"Oh, just you wait," he promised. "What was it you said on the beach? That you know my weaknesses? Well I know yours, too." He felt the movement of her forehead against his as she chuckled quietly.

"Well, that sounds interesting," she said, yawning. The movement of her face as she yawned was enough, since they were so close together, to press her nose against his, and he smiled, raising his face enough to be able to kiss her gently, leaning back slowly a minute later.

"Good night, Jane," he said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, thinking that he could lie there and look at her all night, if only he didn't need to sleep himself. His left arm dropped to drape gently over her waist, his left hand resting on the skin of her lower back in the space where her t-shirt and her pajama pants met.

"Good night," she whispered back, already half asleep.

It felt like only a few seconds later that she felt herself waking up, somehow now in a different position. Now she was facing the opposite direction and Kurt was pressed behind her, his left arm again draped over her waist, this time pulling her close against his chest. She smiled, still half asleep and wondering what had woken her, thinking that whatever it was, this wasn't a bad way to wake up, if waking up was necessary. But what _had_ woken her up?

And then suddenly, she knew, because he was doing it again. She felt him slowly kissing the back of her neck, very gradually moving upwards. "Are you awake yet?" he whispered.

"If I say no, will you keep going?" she asked, partially joking and yet… also partially serious. She felt the rumble in his chest as he chuckled against her, moving around the left side of her neck to kiss the bird tattoo, and then up to her ear, where he whispered, "See? I know your weaknesses."

"I'm not up yet, and I know yours, too," she replied, turning over to face him, bringing her face in line with his so that suddenly she didn't even have to move in order to kiss him, which she did. She could feel him smiling into the kiss, and she had a feeling that she was doing the same. It was more than a few minutes before she could force herself to lean back, looking at him with interest.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked him, knowing that her smile matched his.

"I was right, I know how to wake you up early," he replied triumphantly, suddenly rolling toward the opposite side of the bed and pushing himself up to sit on the edge. She flopped over onto her back, scoffing playfully.

"I was tricked," she murmured, staring up at the ceiling and trying not to laugh. She'd have thought she'd have been grumpy to have been woken up at – she checked the clock – 5:00am, but apparently he'd performed some kind of magic. Before she knew it, he was standing beside the bed looking down at her, still smiling the same goofy smile that she imagined was also on her face.

"Come on," he told her, holding out a hand. She pushed the covers off of her slowly, stretched, and then reached for his hand, still outstretched towards her. He pulled her up, not stepping back, and she suddenly found herself standing very close to him.

"This was a lot easier than I expected," he said, leaning down to kiss her quickly, pulling back up again almost before she realized what was happening. The look on her face then could only be described as a pout, and he laughed.

"Later," he said, winking at her. "Right now, go get ready."

"Do I have time to shower?" she asked. "I feel gross from all the sand yesterday."

"If you hurry," he told her, leaning down for another peck on the lips.

"Well then stop kissing me," she said as he stood up again.

"Excuse me?" he asked, his eyes suddenly wide.

She rolled her eyes at him. "If you want me to get ready quickly, then stop kissing me and let me get ready," she clarified, swatting at him playfully.

"Oh, okay," he said, pretending he had misunderstood her previous request. She shook her head at him, putting her hands on his chest and then pushing him back. She took what was probably the fastest shower she could remember, realizing only after she was clean that her clothes were all still in the bedroom. Only her red bikini was in the bathroom with her, having been rinsed and hung up the night before. Unsure of whether their day would involve the beach or not, she decided to put it on anyway. It couldn't hurt, after all, and that way she was walking back into the bedroom in more than just a towel.

Feeling very self-conscious, she let herself back into the bedroom. She had the towel wrapped around her over her bikini, the red straps visible on her shoulders. It was silly, really, because how many times had he already seen her in that bikini? And besides, she knew that he _liked_ seeing her in it. She gritted her teeth and walked towards her bag to retrieve a set of clean clothes. He looked up at her from where he was laying on the bed and smiled appreciatively.

"Ahhh, one more chance to see the bikini," he said, getting up from the bed and walking towards her. She smiled shyly, then unwrapped the towel from around her, bent her head forward and wrapped it around her wet hair as she stood up, looking back up at him with a grin. He stopped just within reach of her, putting his hands gently on her hips.

Smiling and knowing that she suddenly had the upper hand, she shook her head at him. "Don't you need to go shower or something?"

"I do," he agreed, stepping closer to her, "but you're distracting me again."

"Hey," she said, pretending to be serious. "You got me up this early to go somewhere, I _think_ , so you can't afford to get distracted." He looked at her in mock disappointment, imitating a sad four year old with a protruding pouty lip, hanging his head down to his chest.

"Later, remember?" she whispered, at which he brightened right back up again. "Right now, go shower."

"Yes, right, I'm going," he replied, forcing himself to remove his hands from her hips but still grinning at her. She shook her head, turning toward her bag and leaning down to pick out some clothes, catching the towel that had been wrapped around her head as it fell off with her change of angle, and finally hearing him leave the room.

When he emerged from the bathroom a little while later, she was sitting on the small sofa by the TV, the green bag beside her. "Ready when you are," she told him.

"Good," he replied, "because we need to get going." She stood up and walked towards him as he walked forward, so that they met halfway, then walked to the door together.

"Is there sunblock in that bag, just in case, for later?" he asked.

"Yep," she replied in amusement, as she tended to when sunblock was mentioned. She refused to think about the fact that it was the last day something like that would be necessary.

Kurt stopped and wrote a note for Sarah, leaving it on the kitchen table, lest she wonder where they had gone when they eventually woke up, then they were on their way.

The route they took was familiar – they were heading straight for the beach. Jane wondered what exactly they were doing that required them to be up so _early_ , but was surprised to find that she really wasn't as tired as she'd expected to be. She still felt a sort of glow from their adventures last night – from the whole weekend, really. It was going to be hard to go back to reality again after everything that had happened, even _if_ things worked out between the two of them… She forced the thought from her mind.

"Are you going to tell me what we're doing yet?" she asked him as they walked.

"Soon," he promised, squeezing the hand that had taken up its now familiar spot across her shoulders. She shook her head at him, but just smiled. Whatever it was, she was sure that it would be worth the lack of sleep. If nothing else, she certainly didn't mind the extra time with him.

Jane couldn't help but notice how strange it was to walk the now familiar route and not see any other people. The only other time that had happened had been in the pouring rain. Now, the weather was perfect, but the city was still asleep. They could hear the sounds of the water even before they reached the beach, along with the calls of seagulls in the distance. It was very peaceful.

When Kurt headed straight for the stairs that led down to the beach, Jane's curiosity threatened to get the best of her. Still, she waited. They walked toward the water, stopping mid-way down where the sand was still slightly loose. She hadn't even noticed that he had a towel under his free arm, but he let go of her for a moment and spread it out in front of them, perpendicular to the water, gesturing towards it.

"Have a seat," he told her. She smiled, putting the green bag down in the sand beside the towel, and then sitting down near the front. By now, she had figured out what they were doing. He sat down on the towel behind her and without a word, only a knowing smile, she scooted herself back until her back was against his chest, one of his legs on each side of her. He wrapped his arms around her at her shoulders without hesitation, and she felt the now familiar blissful happiness flood her system once again. There wasn't anything else in the world she needed just then.

"It's a harder to get a good view of the sunset here on the east coast," he told her, speaking near her ear, "but if we can get up early enough, we get the sunrise."

Color was already filling the sky, announcing the sun's impending arrival, though it wasn't yet visible. She just nodded absently, leaning her head against his arm. Her eyes drifted closed, and almost immediately he was in her ear again.

"Hey, you're not sleeping, are you? Because that's not allowed," he admonished her playfully.

"Nope, not sleeping," she replied without opening her eyes. "Just… enjoying the moment."

"Well, make sure you enjoy the moment with your eyes open," he reminded her. "You don't want to miss the sunrise."

"Okay, okay," she replied, forcing her eyes open again, then turning around far enough to look at him. "See? They're open."

"Good," he replied, "Now… _look_." She turned around to see the sun just beginning to peek above the horizon, a shining sliver of light emerging from the ocean – or so it seemed. There were no clouds in the sky to obscure it, and she realized too late that sunglasses would have been helpful.

"Wow, it's really bright," she said, squinting slightly.

He chuckled at her. "Well, it is _the sun_ ," he said. "It's bound to be bright."

"Shut up," she told him fondly, leaning against his arm once more.

After that they sat quietly for what felt like both a long time, and simultaneously not nearly long enough. Both of them were partially lost in their thoughts, neither one wanting to acknowledge that it was now only a matter of mere hours until they would be heading for home.

Finally, Kurt leaned his chin against her shoulder and said, "I know a place we can go for breakfast. Sarah told me everyone recommends it here. It's only a few blocks." Jane just nodded, looking ahead. She felt the beginnings of anxiety in her stomach, and hoped she'd be able to eat. Up until now she'd been able to push thoughts of going home out of her mind, but the closer it got, the more real it was. At this point, there wasn't much more room for denial, no matter how hard she tried. "They open at 7:00," he added.

"What time is it now?" she asked with some effort.

He didn't miss the heavy sigh that accompanied her words. He had his phone in his pocket, and he slowly unwrapped his right arm from around her so that he could take it out to check.

"6:45," he said. "We could walk up there now and they'll be practically ready to open when we get there."

"Okay," she said quietly.

"I think you'll feel better with some coffee in you, at least," he told her, sensing her mood and kissing her cheek before slowly letting his left arm also fall away from her. They both stood up and he shook the sand off of the towel, folding it as Jane opened their bag so that he could put it and his phone inside. He then took the bag from her and put it over his own shoulder, switching from her right to her left and draping his arm across her shoulders for the walk across the beach.

Soon after that, they found themselves at the restaurant, an older looking building with windows all across the front, on 23rd Street between Atlantic and Pacific Avenues. It was called Doc Taylor's, and they arrived with five minutes to spare before the restaurant opened. They were surprised to see many other people were up early with the same idea.

"Popular place," he murmured. Jane just nodded. They stood on the sidewalk near the door, looking around at the other people waiting, Jane's head resting on his shoulder.

She knew that she _shouldn't_ be sad. After all, it wasn't logical to be sad after the weekend she'd had – it had been the best one, by far, in all of her still limited memory. Still, she'd quickly become so addicted to this – what she had right at this moment – Kurt's arm around her, standing so close to her, the feeling of being carefree and, surprisingly enough, the fact that even though she loved her work, she actually did like having a break from chasing down criminals after all…

Never in a million years would she have guessed that she would have any of those things, much less that she would have liked it so much. She'd spent so much time telling herself that she didn't need anything from anyone else – enough time that she'd actually believed it – and this reprogramming of her feelings that Kurt was doing… it was addictive. And of course, it was also scary, despite his reassurances. It might not have been nearly as much fun to have nothing to lose, but it had been safer.

The front door of the restaurant opened and the people on the sidewalk began moving forward in small groups, everyone slowly making their way inside. When Jane and Kurt were seated inside what appeared to be a somewhat older, large beach house that had been converted into a restaurant, the momentary distraction from her thoughts faded and she felt worry begin to eat at her again.

Their waitress quickly supplied coffee and left them to look at the menus. Jane stared absently at hers on the table in front of her, her chin propped up on her left hand, her elbow on the table, as the lack of both sleep and caffeine, which had not yet been absorbed into her system, hit her. The fingers on her right hand drummed unconsciously against the table as she sat, reading through the whole menu and yet having no idea what it had said.

Finally, Kurt reached up and covered her hand with his, stopping the drumming noise of her fingers against the table, squeezing gently. She looked at him in surprise, as if she'd forgotten that he was there. "Do you know what you want?" he asked. When she stared at him blankly for a second, as if completely surprised by the question, he chuckled and added, "to _eat_."

"Oh," she said, feeling herself blushing and looking down at the menu. "No, um…"

"You've been reading the menu for almost five minutes," he told her patiently. "Or… looking at it, at least…" She knew that she was busted, that there was no point in trying to deny it. He simply knew her far too well.

Taking a drink of her coffee, she finally looked up at him. It was one of the few times that weekend that he had seen sadness in her eyes. "I'm just… not very hungry," she said quietly, looking down into her coffee and then, for something else to focus on if nothing else, taking another drink.

He was still holding her right hand under his against the table, and he picked it up so that he could lace their fingers together, squeezing firmly. "Jane," he said softly, conscious of the fact that despite the fact that it wasn't crowded yet, they were still in a restaurant. He waited until she looked back up at him, and suddenly the words he was going to say, that it was going to be okay, seemed inadequate. The look in her eyes was haunted, and even without understanding exactly… he did. Instead, he just stared into her sad, green eyes, hoping that like so many other times, his would speak for him.

She hated to end the weekend like this, to end it as anything other than happy, because that was how they'd spent it. Suddenly, though, she was so full of so many different emotions, and they jammed up inside her, making her unable to explain what was wrong. Luckily, she got the feeling that as usual, she didn't really need to.

"You need to eat something, okay?" he said quietly, and she nodded. Yes, she would eat a little bit, at least. Taking another sip of her coffee, she forced a small smile onto her face, or what she hoped at least resembled a small smile, looking across the table at Kurt. After all, how could she _not_ smile when she had someone like him looking back at her with such obvious concern? That's what she told herself at least, and she felt a little better.

They didn't say very much as they waited for their food, and when the waitress brought their orders – scrambled eggs and a bagel for Jane and pancakes, bacon and eggs for Kurt – they concentrated on eating and watching each other, as if the other might disappear into thin air if they looked away for too long. The waitress had attentively refilled Jane's coffee every time it was even half empty, and eventually she lost track of how much of it she'd had. She did know, however, that she was feeling better by the time they finished eating. Kurt had insisted on paying, and they walked back out into what was shaping up to be a beautiful, hot day.

Outside, the sun now higher in the sky and the quiet of dawn replaced with the bustle of morning in a beach town, they stood on the sidewalk to discuss their next move.

"So we have," Kurt checked the time on his phone before replacing it in the bag, "about three hours before we need to head back to the house." She nodded, swallowing hard and willing her mind not to run away with her. "Anything you'd like to do?"

Smiling determinedly, she shook her head. "Nothing in particular," she replied. "I feel like we've done it all."

He nodded in agreement. They certainly had done all of the most obvious things, anyway. "It's a beautiful day," he said. "We could just go up and walk along the boardwalk. We may even have time to walk all the way from one end to the other." She looked at him oddly, as if she couldn't figure out whether or not he was joking. "I'm serious," he said, "Basically, at this point we either go somewhere and sit, or we walk around, right? And we're going to be sitting in the car all afternoon, so… we may as well walk."

When he put it like _that_ , it made a lot of sense, actually, and she nodded in agreement. "Okay," she said, "why not?" It didn't really matter what they did, as long as they were together, after all.

"Still," he said, leaning closer to her for no other reason than he wanted to, "whether or not we're on the beach, we should still put on sunblock." She nodded, knowing that his assistance wasn't required this time, since her back was still covered by her shirt. No, the only part of her she could use his held with was on her face – which really wasn't even _necessary_ as much as something they could use as an excuse to make contact with each other.

 _Doing my own sunblock is… a disappointment… after all the other applications_ , she thought, frowning at the thought. He winked at her just then, and she blushed slightly, because _of course_ he knew what she was thinking. He always did.

"Let's go up to the boardwalk and find a bench to sit on to take care of that," he suggested.

"Sure," she replied, and without any further communication they simply moved towards each other, Kurt on the right, Jane with the beach bag over her left shoulder, each with one arm wrapped around the other.

The sidewalk wasn't quite crowded, but it definitely wasn't empty, and she took a deep breath, steadying herself. She was already a little emotional today, and she hoped that she wouldn't run into anyone as nasty as that woman on the beach the day before… or if she did, that she would at least handle it better. When it came down to it, all she could do was her best, just like anyone else with any other problem. She pitied anyone who messed with her when Kurt was around, and the thought made her smile. Not that she couldn't take care of herself, because they both knew that she could easily do that. That didn't stop him from being extremely protective, however. For the most part, it was cute.

On the boardwalk, they passed several benches that were occupied before finding an empty one, and sat down quickly. She took out the sunblock and they got to work, exchanging glances that led her to believe that he was thinking the same thing she was – _this isn't nearly as much fun as the other times_. She finished with the skin not covered by her shorts and t-shirt, then quickly smeared sunblock across her face, leaving more than a few globs of white behind. By accident, _of course._

As expected, he finished his own sunblock and turned to face her. Without a word, their routine now established, he leaned forward and brought a hand to her cheek, smoothing his fingers across her skin. Even though it hadn't been long since their last skin to skin contact, she couldn't help but lean into his touch, feeling that it had still been much too long. She only realized that she was grinning at him when she glanced up at him and saw him grinning back at her. Of course, he finished his task much too quickly, even though she could tell that he was trying to take his time.

He lowered his hand reluctantly, and she handed him the sunblock bottle she'd been using so that he could spread it just as halfheartedly on his own face as she had on hers. As she raised her right hand to spread the sunblock on his face, she felt his right hand on top of her left, sitting on her knee. His smile was making her slightly dizzy, and she had to concentrate intensely on what she was doing. He leaned his cheek slightly against her hand, just as she had done against his.

She finished rubbing the sunblock into his face much too quickly, as he had with hers, and drew her hand back from his cheek slowly. With their time ticking down, every second suddenly felt more important than the one before. Despite the fact that she _knew_ that this was silly, because she _knew_ that he wasn't going to disappear into thin air when they got back to New York, the feeling of panic was back in her stomach once again. Taking a deep breath, she looked down at his hand, which was still covering hers, sitting on her knee. Almost as if on cue, he squeezed her hand, his fingertips brushing against her knee below it.

"Come on," he said quietly, "let's walk." She nodded, avoiding his eyes and forcing herself to stand up, hating that that meant relinquishing the contact that they had. She looked down at the ground for only a few seconds before she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders reassuringly, and she felt just a little less panicked. They set off down the boardwalk to the right, where the street numbers went lower, toward the pier and the amusement park. Those first eight blocks were familiar, since they had now walked them several times.

They passed the familiar landmarks and continued, finding the crowds slightly thinner as they got closer to where the boardwalk ended at 1st Street. When they reached the end, there was a rocky overlook, the land broken by a narrow channel of water that went inland a little ways to what looked like a marina, many boats docked there. On the other side of the water, the shoreline continued, just beach without boardwalk, and large beach houses set just far enough back to be safe from a normal high tide, but close enough to the water that the views must be spectacular.

They stood and looked out along where the coastline continued into the distance, then slowly turned around to see the giant, colorful, handicapped accessible playground that had been built at this end of the boardwalk. Though they'd been known to play on playgrounds like kids themselves – at least the one in her neighborhood, anyway – neither of them felt like playing just then. They turned around and started back towards the other end of the boardwalk in silence.

They'd only gone a few blocks when Jane slowed and, without a word, walked to the railing along the right side of the boardwalk and leaned against it heavily, staring out at the water. The view really was beautiful, and for a moment she was lost in it. She couldn't even have said exactly why she had stopped when and where she had… she'd been alone in her head with her thoughts for quite some time now, and her actions weren't necessarily something that she could explain.

Kurt, ever the intuitive one when it came to Jane, simply followed her head, having been tugged along to the side of the boardwalk. He released his arm from her shoulder and instead, stood close behind her, his hands on either sides of hers on the railing.

"Everything okay?" he asked from behind her left shoulder. She nodded unconvincingly, staring at the water, sure that if she looked at him he would see that she was simply saying yes to try to convince herself. His right hand left the railing and he leaned back very slightly, his hand going to the space where the back of her neck met her shoulders, and his thumb stroking back and forth against the top of the oil derrick tattoo sticking up above her t-shirt. She felt herself relax, tension actually seeming to flow out of her through his hand, and for a second, she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the sensation of his hand against her skin.

He didn't say anything, because what was there to say? After all, he'd said everything he could already, trying to make her believe that it would be okay. It wasn't that she didn't believe him, he knew, more that she _couldn't_ , and not for a lack of wanting to.

Moving the neck of her t-shirt down slightly with his thumb, he ran his fingers lower along the oil derrick tattoo, then let his fingertips disappear below the soft cotton of her shirt's neckline, moving slowly an inch or so before coming back up her neck to visible skin. He wasn't sure who liked this more, her or him. Finally, laying his hand flat against the base of her neck, he moved around her on her left side, maneuvering so that he was as close to being in front of her as he could be, leaning in close enough to her face to see the war of emotions that reflected her thoughts.

"Nope," he whispered simply, which made her turn to look at him in confusion. Now his face _was_ in front of hers, and he was at the right angle to lean forward and kiss her – which he did, just slowly enough and yet just intensely enough.

Her mind was suddenly blank, and she couldn't quite remember what had been bothering her, what had been making her thoughts spin out of control… the thought felt like it was there, but just out of reach, and she couldn't say that she was disappointed that she couldn't retrieve it. On the contrary, she thought, good riddance to whatever had been upsetting her. Too soon, though, the kiss was over and he was leaning back, looking at her intently. This time, she looked back at him, feeling overwhelmed by the emotion she saw in his eyes. It said more than any words might have.

After nearly a minute of looking at each other, almost without blinking, her face finally relaxed and she smiled, looking more like herself than she had in several hours. "That was quite a pep talk," she commented quietly.

He raised an eyebrow at her mischievously, glad to see that he seemed to have coaxed her back out of her head, back to where he could reach her. "Let's go back down to the beach," he said. She looked at him in surprise, as if she was trying to figure out what he was thinking.

"Tired of walking?" she asked, though her smile told him she was actually asking something else without doing so in so many words.

A grin spread across his face and he angled his head to the side, making a face and replying "I guess you could say that." She shook her head at him as they headed for the nearest stairs down to the sand. They were still fairly close to the far end of the beach, which was less crowded than the section that they'd been sitting on throughout the rest of the weekend. There were still other people there, but it was noticeably quieter and she felt like there were fewer eyes on her, which she liked.

Partway down to the water, Kurt spread out the towel perpendicular to the shore, as he had that morning, and Jane sat down on the right side, slightly toward the front, stretching her legs out in front of her so that her feet were in the sand. They had one towel between the two of them now, unlike their other days on the beach, but she certainly didn't mind having him closer to her. As she sat there, he leaned back and stretched out along the left side of the towel, his left arm folded behind his head, his feet hanging off the end into the sand. When she saw that that was what he was doing, she scooted back, closer to him, but remained sitting up, looking out at the ocean, leaning forward slightly.

It was a matter of seconds before she felt a gentle tug at the bottom of her t-shirt, and then his fingers on the skin of her lower back, moving in a pattern that she recognized as him tracing the tattoo lines that he must be able to see from the angle that he was sitting and the small amount that he'd moved her shirt. She turned and looked at him over her left shoulder, leaning towards him slightly and smiling in amusement, finding him looking up at her with his little-boy grin, looking extremely proud of himself.

"This is the beach," he said innocently. "You're overdressed."

She twisted the rest of the way around slowly, and when she stopped moving she was laying on her left side, propped up against her left arm, leaning over him with her face close to his. "Is _that_ why you wanted to come down to the beach?" she asked, almost laughing.

He looked back at her, pretending to be surprised at the suggestion. "Oh, I just love the beach," he said innocently. "But, you know, you're just overdressed all of a sudden."

Her eyes narrowed playfully as she leaned closer to him. "Are you telling me for a _third_ time to take my shirt off?" she whispered so that no one else but him would hear her.

Looking straight into her eyes, he replied, "Do you need help? _Again_?"

She bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud. He was _much_ too good at this game they were playing.

"Well," she replied, looking away and pretending to think about it. "I will need sunblock, I suppose, if all that skin is exposed."

"I can certainly help you with that," he replied quickly. "I've been practicing. As a matter of fact, I think I've gotten pretty good."

"Oh, you think so, huh?" she grinned. "Who told you that?"

He looked back at her in feigned surprise for a second, pretending to be hurt, then the mischievous look returned to his face. "Oh, you know…" he said casually. "That hot girl I was telling you about earlier."

"And she said that, did she?" Jane asked, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

"Well, no… but she was thinking it," he replied.

"How do you _know_?" she asked, slowly leaning back down towards him.

"Well," he began slowly, as if he was considering the question, "I never heard her _complain_ , and she certainly looked happy when I was done…"

Jane couldn't help but smile, unable to keep a straight face any longer. She leaned down farther until her face was only inches above his. "I was," she whispered, holding still where she was, knowing that both of them were just barely suppressing the urge to lean forward for a kiss.

"Then take your shirt off," he whispered, at which point she dissolved into laughter, her head falling against his neck, her left arm just barely stopping her from collapsing completely against his chest… _not that that would be a bad thing_ , she thought…

Finally recovering the power of speech, she sat up part way and looked back down at him once more, shaking her head. "So romantic," she murmured, unable to stop smiling as she peeled off her t-shirt, now very glad that she'd thought to put on her bikini when she'd gotten up so many hours ago.

He winked at her and sat up, reaching for the sunblock. "Lay down," he told her, which she did, not needing any more convincing, and settling on her stomach. She had moved as far to one side as she could, trying to leave him some room. She lay with her head facing him, on her right, but her eyes were closed for the moment. The sound of the sunblock cap was familiar, as was the funny sound the bottle sometimes made when the lotion was squeezed out, especially now that it seemed to be close to empty. She heard him rubbing his hands together, and then they were on her shoulders, moving slowly.

The best thing – or one of the best things – about where she was in that moment was that there was no room for thoughts of anything else. After all, how could there be? The only thing she could think about was him as his hands moved along her skin. Somehow, it was both completely innocent – enough so that it could be done in public, and even arguably something that was _necessary_ – and at the same time extremely intimate. Her eyes remained closed, and she could feel the smile on her face as the sun beat down on her, his hands continuing their work.

When he reached the base of her lower back, where her bikini bottom began – and this time, her shorts, which she hadn't taken off – she felt him shift beside her, and for a few seconds, his hand left her back. She opened her eyes to see where he had gone, only to discover than he was now lying beside her, on his right side, propped up on his right elbow.

At that moment, his hand was on her lower back again, where it had been not a minute before, and resumed its movement. The difference was that now he was no longer rubbing in sunblock, but simply tracing her tattoos – though he was doing so with several fingers together, in what she imagined was supposed to _appear_ to anyone who happened to look that he was rubbing in sunblock… She didn't really care very much how it looked to anyone else at that moment, honestly, because there was no way she was going to stop him.

She didn't even remember feeling sleepy, but all at once she was waking up, still feeling him tracing his fingers across her back. A smile spread across her face almost involuntarily, and she opened her eyes to find him looking at her intently.

"Did you have a nice nap?" he asked.

"Yes, thanks," she replied. "I didn't mean to… Someone just lulled me right to sleep."

He smiled at her, looking back down to where his hand was slowly tracing the lines of ink across her back, then slowly back up at her. "Ready to head back?" he asked reluctantly. He knew what her answer would be.

"No," she said emphatically, closing her eyes again. _Maybe if I pretend it doesn't exist, reality will just go away_ , she thought to herself.

Shaking his head, he looked down at her. So much had changed over the course of the weekend… Looking back now, he couldn't figure out how it had taken him so long to realize how he felt about her. _No, not just to realize how he felt about her, but to_ _ **do**_ _something about it_. But that didn't matter now, because now that they had taken this step, there was no going back – even though neither of them quite knew what that would mean for them.

"Come on," he said, leaning forward to kiss her, which made her instantly open her eyes in surprise for a second before closing them again. When he pulled back, her eyelids fluttered open slowly once again, and he saw the familiar mix of love and anxiety on her face.

"It's going to be fine," he whispered once again, running a finger along her cheek. "I promise." They looked into each other's eyes for a few long seconds before he added, "After all, we've been through worse."

She had to admit that there was certainly no denying _that_. No matter what might happen to them, possibly for the rest of their lives, it was likely that they would be able to say they'd been through worse – both of them separately, as well as the two of them together. And so, vowing to herself to remember that, she sat up and reached for her shirt, tugging it back over her head, then standing up slowly and stepping off the towel as he bent to pick it up and shake it out before putting it back in their bag. The fact that Kurt had rubbed sunblock on her so that she could almost immediately put her shirt back on was not lost on her… but nor was it especially important.

As she stood there, looking around at the sand at their feet, something caught her eye. It was a glint of color, something tiny and red. She took a few steps toward it and then bent down, digging her fingers slowly into the sand to retrieve it. Kurt saw her hunched over, looking at something, and wandered over to see what she'd found.

Her face was full of awe when she turned back towards him, her fingers curled around something in her palm that he couldn't see.

"What'd you find?" he asked curiously, stepping towards her.

She looked up at him, her face full of amazement, and then held out her palm, slowly uncurling her fingers. He wouldn't have recognized the small shard of red before that weekend, but after the past few days, he recognized the small fragment in Jane's hand as sea glass. _Red_ sea glass, the only color she hadn't found in the bin at the shop on the pier. One of the ones that was apparently the rarest and most difficult to find, which she'd just found on a beach that supposedly didn't have _any_ sea glass to be found.

"Wow," he said, putting his hands around hers on both sides and moving his thumbs slowly across her skin. "I thought there was no sea glass on this beach."

"Well we're by the ocean, so I guess it's not _impossible_ ," she replied, still very much in awe herself. "But the woman in the shop had said that there wasn't any sea glass on this beach… and that it's rare to find red _at all_ … What are the odds?" She was staring at the small piece of glass in her hand reverently, still in disbelief.

"Well," he chuckled, "you'd have to ask Patterson about the odds…"

She elbowed him gently in the side as she closed her hand around the sea glass, shaking her head. "Stop," she chuckled.

"You can add it to your collection," he told her. "And this is one your really did find on the beach." She just nodded, slipping the small piece of glass carefully into the pocket of her shorts, then wrapping her arm around his lower back, leaning against him. The sea glass had only momentarily distracted her from the real issue at hand, the fact that it was nearly time to leave.

"What time is it?" she asked him.

"11:15," he replied. "Time to head back." She just nodded, letting her head fall against his shoulder as he put his arm around her and they started walking back toward the boardwalk.

Their pace back to the beach house was slow but steady, and he couldn't help but notice that she held onto him a little tighter than usual. This didn't surprise him. On the contrary, he felt the same inclination, and found himself holding onto her just a little tighter as well.

Somehow, they would make it all work out.


	19. With Jane

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot or anything remotely related to the GooGoo Dolls. Writing about Jane and Kurt is simply the outlet for my obsession, and a fun way to escape reality.**

 _A/N: Just to clarify, in case there's any doubt and because I want to reiterate it after seeing ep 207, the "Allie having Weller's baby" and "Weller and Nas" storylines do not exist in any part of the timeline of this fic. Because as much as I'm loyal to canon storylines, I'm just_ _ **not**_ _going there. (Because after all, this story is a happy place)_

The sun was high overhead as each of them brought their bags outside, setting them one by one on the driveway behind the SUV, where Kurt stood loading them into the trunk. Sawyer came bounding outside first, carrying a backpack and a small duffle bag, followed closely by Sarah with her purse and a larger bag slung over her shoulder. The two of them were their usual selves, as far as Kurt could tell, leaving their things and then walking back toward the house for a final look around.

However, one glance at Jane, who came out of the house last, told Kurt that she was getting anxious again. Her smile was forced as she passed Sarah and Sawyer, and she looked away from them quickly. She set her own bag down on the cement, giving him barely half of a forced smile, and started to walk away. Instead of letting her go, he caught her arm gently and she turned back around, looking at him in surprise.

"Jane," he said quietly, "Are you okay?"

She nodded unconvincingly, looking away and whispering, "Yeah, I'm fine." When she looked back at him and saw the obvious disbelief on his face, she rolled her eyes at him, annoyed that he could read her so easily. "I just hate to see it end," she conceded. She glanced at the ground, then back up at him unsurely.

"We're going to figure it out," he assured her for the umpteenth time, moving his hand up her arm to her shoulder and squeezing gently. She nodded, looking down again, but she didn't look convinced. He put down the bag he'd been balancing in his left hand and turned to face her, pulling his arms around her and then leaning back to kiss her forehead. "I love you," he whispered. "You know that, right?"

Her arms had wound around him almost as if they had a mind of their own, and suddenly she felt as though she was hanging on for dear life. "I know," she said, nodding slowly. Her expression softened then, and he saw the hint of a smile. "I love you, too," she replied.

He smiled at her sincerely, then whispered, "If we can survive Sandstorm and come out the other side, then surely we can handle a change in relationship status."

For the first time in an hour or so, her lips curled into a genuine smile, and he felt a great sense of accomplishment. "Yeah, I know," she conceded, immediately feeling silly for being worried. He was right. They had survived _so much worse_. Granted, there had been many, many painful bumps along that road, ones that they almost _hadn't_ survived, but they were _here_ , after all, and that was what mattered.

They reluctantly released each other and Kurt finished putting the bags into the car, while Jane walked around awkwardly to the passenger side, waiting to be told which seat to take. She joked with Sawyer, who had come back outside at Sarah's instruction, and was standing and waiting by the car while his mother did a final sweep of the house.

While she waited, Jane fished inside the green bag on her shoulder for her phone, realizing that she had neglected to check it since she'd texted Patterson and Zapata the night before. When she saw that she had two short texts, one from each of them, she couldn't help but smile. She knew that she was going to get some good natured teasing from them on Monday, but she also knew that her friends were happy for her. After reading their texts – Patterson's contained lots of exclamation marks – she clicked her screen back off and put her phone back in her bag.

When Sarah came out of the house a minute later, locking the door and replacing the key where she'd found it, she walked past them to where Kurt was closing the trunk and said mischievously, "I'll drive."

Kurt looked at his younger sister for a few seconds, trying to process the words she'd just uttered. It was the first time she'd ever offered to drive them _anywhere_. _Ever_. "You… want to drive?" he repeated back to her, confused.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, smartass, I want to drive." It wasn't that she _couldn't_ drive, she'd just always been perfectly happy to let Kurt have that job to himself when they were together. Her older brother was a little bit of a control freak, after all, and she didn't care one way or the other.

 _She's up to something…_ he thought, watching her carefully as he nevertheless slowly laid the keys to the SUV in the palm of her now outstretched hand.

Taking them from him before he could change his mind, she walked around to the passenger side. "Hey, Sawyer, you want to sit in front?" Sarah enjoyed watching his eyes widen in surprise, since she had never let him sit in front before. But she figured, he had to start sometime, and he was just about old enough.

"Really?" he asked in surprise. When Sarah nodded, only about a split second went by before he cried, "Yes!" and lunged enthusiastically toward the car, throwing the door open and clambering into the front seat. Jane smiled, watching him get so excited over something so simple. It was nice to watch someone do something for the first time that _she_ herself had already done – she still didn't get to have that feeling very often.

Kurt was now leaning against the back corner of the car on the passenger side, also watching Sawyer in amusement. Sarah had already retreated back around the front of the car to the driver's side, so when Sawyer closed the door, suddenly he was just standing there watching Jane. "Looks like we're riding in back this time," he said, his arms crossed, still leaned against the side of the car and not moving.

"I guess so," Jane nodded, wondering if this was something Sarah had done purposely.

As she stepped forward and reached for the door handle, suddenly Kurt was standing beside her. "Just so you know, Sarah has _never_ offered to drive before," he said softly into her ear, and then turned and walked around to the other side of the car to get in. Jane couldn't help blushing slightly.

 _So he doesn't have to pay attention to the road the whole way back? Or… at least_ _ **part**_ _of the way back, if they take turns driving…_ she couldn't help but think, unable to help the smile on her face.

She was still smiling when she climbed into the car, setting the green beach bag down by her feet and reaching for her seatbelt as Kurt opened the door on the far side of the car. Before she knew it, he'd climbed in as well, but instead of sitting by the opposite door, he scooted into the middle so that he was sitting right next to her, no space left between them – which, of course, was just fine with her.

Glancing at him over her shoulder, she felt her cheeks heat up and knew that she was blushing… and from the look on his face, it had not gone unnoticed. As soon as he had buckled his seatbelt, he took her hand and held it in his, resting it against his knee. She sighed happily, leaning against him, letting her head fall against his shoulder. She was still tired from a late night before, followed by a _very_ early morning. Both had been worth it, but she was now paying the price, despite the coffee she'd already had.

"Everybody ready? Buckled? Comfy?" Sarah asked, glancing in the rearview mirror with a grin.

 _So this_ _ **was**_ _a plan_ , he thought to himself. His sister was apparently thinking farther ahead than he was when it came to Jane…

"Doing great back here," Jane volunteered, still smiling happily.

Sarah Weller knew exactly what she was doing, and she had known all along. She'd invited Jane and Kurt to the beach house that weekend after realizing that, at the speed the two were going on their own, they would be retired before anything whatsoever happened between them. She'd _known_ that there were only two bedrooms at her friend's beach house, and despite not knowing _exactly_ what had already happened between her brother and the woman that he had so obviously been in love with for so long, she'd known that everything would work out fine.

Though she'd been accused of interfering too much in his life in the past, this was obviously different – a public service to both of them. As she watched them in the rearview mirror, both looking deliriously happy, she could see that she'd been right. Smiling with satisfaction, she shuffled to a playlist on her phone that would set the tone for the drive that she felt was appropriate for her passengers.

The car backed out of the driveway of the little beach house, and with that, they were on their way back to New York, and real life. As happy as Jane was to have a few more hours to sit and cuddle with Kurt, she couldn't help but already be anxious about getting back. What would happen once they were back to their everyday lives and routines? As they steered towards the highway, crawling through traffic of other departing beachgoers, she found herself lost in thoughts that she didn't like. As much as she wanted to enjoy where she was, she couldn't help but worry – even though home was six or more hours away.

It wasn't difficult for Kurt to sense Jane's slowly increasing tension. He knew that her thoughts were running away from her, and he knew why. After all, the reality they were returning to was very different than the one they'd been living for the past few days… they'd already talked about it, but he knew that she wouldn't relax completely until he could _show_ her that it would be okay, once they were actually there.

Turning her left hand over in his right, so that his own hand now rested on his knee, his left hand came up and with his index finger, he began tracing the lines on the back of her hand absently. One thing that he'd learned this weekend was that this motion was soothing for both of them, and judging from the way she began to relax when he did it, it seemed to do the trick once again.

She'd gotten the message loud and clear. _Don't worry,_ he'd said without actually saying it. After all, how much he cared about her had always been there, in his eyes, when she thought back… So she shouldn't be worried… right? She wanted to _believe_ that going back to New York wasn't going to break the spell, that it wasn't going to put things back to the way they'd been. She wanted to believe that when they got home, it wouldn't feel like all this had never even happened.

But was that too much to hope for? After all, familiar routines and everything… would they fall back into what was also familiar between the two of them…? The care with which he was tracing the tattoos on the back of her hand just then said no. So she tried to tell herself to simply enjoy where she was – because sitting in the backseat with Kurt like this was one of the more pleasant ways that she could have hoped to spend the long drive home. She tried her best to put the rest of it out of her mind.

"You guys! Look! This bridge is _huge_!" Sawyer called out excitedly. They were just barely out of the city of Virginia Beach, and were now heading out onto a bridge that appeared to go on forever. Sawyer hadn't seen the bridge on the way down, since he'd been long since sleeping by that point, and it had been pitch black outside. Jane picked up her head off of Kurt's shoulder, and the two of them looked up, out the window at the water stretching out to the horizon. The sky was blue and cloudless – the view couldn't have been any more perfect.

"Wow," Jane whispered, feeling Kurt's hand tighten around hers slightly. She vaguely remembered the bridge from the trip down, when she'd been exhausted but still awake, helping Kurt stay awake as he drove.

"It's the… what's it called again, mom?" Sawyer asked, looking at Sarah.

"The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel," Sarah replied.

"Bridge Tunnel?" Jane asked in confusion from the back seat. _How did I miss that part?_ she wondered.

"It's a bridge, but then it goes under the water in a tunnel. It actually does it twice," Kurt explained. He remembered it well, having been the one who'd been driving the last time. "You don't remember that? I swear you were awake…" She just shrugged, laughing at herself quietly.

"That's crazy!" Sawyer exclaimed, turning around to look at Jane and Kurt.

"Did you see the sign for the gift shop and restaurant?" Sarah asked with a grin.

"On the _bridge_?" Jane asked.

"Yep," Sarah nodded. "Weird, right? I guess that's how you _know_ it's a long bridge."

"Wow," Jane said, shaking her head in surprise. Kurt chuckled beside her. It was almost twenty minutes before they got across the bridge tunnel – it was about seventeen miles long, after all – and Jane's head had landed back on Kurt's shoulder long before that time. The motion of the car and the soothing sensation of his fingers tracing the ink on her hand meant that she was already having trouble keeping her eyes open, even though it wasn't even mid-afternoon.

The scenery was moving by without her even noticing, as lost in thought as she was, and they hadn't even been on the road for an hour when she felt herself start to yawn. _It's too early to be tired,_ she reminded herself, glancing at the clock and realizing that it wasn't even one o'clock in the afternoon. Still, she couldn't help it… with the help of the car, it was almost as though Kurt was managing to lull her to sleep just by moving his fingers across her skin.

He shifted beside her, suddenly letting go of her hand, the feeling of which she immediately missed. She was about to protest when she felt him turning towards her, and then felt his hands on her shoulders, turning her as well. He'd pulled her seatbelt a little looser so that she had room to move in the direction that he wanted her to, toward the passenger side window. When the shifting stopped, he was sitting slightly behind her as they both angled towards the passenger side windows. Somehow, they had accomplished this while still wearing their seatbelts. He leaned down and spoke into her ear, as he had so many times that weekend. "I saw that yawn. Lean back, relax. Take a nap."

She couldn't help but smile, because he was doing it again… being thoughtful and attentive, and reading her mind. She did as she was told, because there was no reason in the world _not_ she leaned back against him, most of her weight fell against his right shoulder, which pressed now against the seat. Her head was tilted to her left, tucked under his chin toward his left shoulder. She couldn't help but sigh in absolute contentment. They weren't turned completely sideways, but enough that she was facing the front window beside Sawyer, who was enjoying his time in the front seat probably _almost_ as much as she was enjoying her time in the back.

Kurt's right arm had found its way between the seat and her waist, and he leaned his head against the seat, looking over her right shoulder at her. He simply couldn't get tired of looking at her. His hands held onto hers securely once again.

He saw Sarah glance at them in the rearview mirror, and he gave her a small smile of acknowledgement. At that moment, he forgave her for all the times he'd felt like she'd meddled in his life. He understood now that she had simply wanted him to be happy, which had always been the one thing that had alluded him. She'd certainly accomplished her goal this time, because this weekend had been one example of what made him happy after another. In short, it was _Jane_ that made him happy. It seemed strange now that he'd taken so long to see that, as simple as it was.

The songs that had been floating from the front seat had blended into a harmonious string of soothing background music for Jane's anxious thoughts, but now, completely wrapped up in Kurt's arms, she was finally able to push those thoughts away for the time being and focus on where she was and what was happening around her. Of course, she didn't know any of the songs, but she liked what she was hearing.

Just when she was sure that the moment couldn't get any more perfect, she heard Kurt's voice in her ear. Actually, it was more accurate to say that before she realized that she was hearing his voice, she felt his breath against her cheek. That was what made her turn toward him slightly, listening. His voice was soft, and at first she couldn't tell what he was saying. It took a minute, but slowly she realized that he was singing along with the song that Sarah was playing in the front seat. At almost the same moment, she realized that she'd heard that song the night before, at the concert.

Knowing that, she focused on hearing the lyrics. Kurt sang slightly out of tune, and quietly enough that she was the only one who would hear him, his voice barely a whisper beside her ear. That just made it that much more special, because it was something that was only between the two of them.

" _So take these words and sing out loud  
'Cause everyone is forgiven now  
'Cause tonight's the night the world begins again."_

There was a pause while the music got faster, and she turned to glance at him, then turned back so that her ear was beside his mouth, so that she could hear his quiet singing.

" _I wish everyone was loved tonight  
And somehow stop this endless fight  
Just a chance that maybe we'll find better days…_"

Between the lyrics to the song and the person singing them softly into her ear, she was suddenly overwhelmed. She hadn't been able to focus as well on what the song was saying during the concert, as in awe as she had been of the whole experience. Now, the words were sinking in.

Forgiveness? That was something that she'd never dared to hope for, and yet over the past year, that seemed to be what both of them had achieved somewhere along the way – forgiveness of each other, and of themselves. How it had happened wasn't even important anymore. They had talked about some of it, but neither of them had ever been great with words. More of the healing had been accomplished through their actions towards each other, and a slow but steady rebuilding of trust. They'd both been painfully aware of their mistakes, and the way those mistakes had shaped their present.

Like the song said, it was as though the world had begun again – for Jane, it had now done so for the _second_ time, and this time she was determined to get it right.

As for love...? She'd known the word, of course, but it was a concept she'd only just begun to understand. She still couldn't believe it… _That_ was what it had been for so long between herself and Kurt, that thing that she hadn't known how to identify, the pull that seemed to both save her and kill her at the same time.

By the time she'd suspected that that had been what it was… back before things had gone so badly last year… well, by then she had already been so deeply entrenched in the lies that Oscar had demanded of her, she had thought that there was no coming back. But, as love sometimes does, it had surprised her by refusing to be crushed by the weight of the lies they had told each other. She'd meant what she'd said when she'd told a scared teenager that it was possible to lie to someone, and still love them very much. When the dust had cleared around everything that involved Sandstorm, there it had been once more – the impossibly complex and yet frustratingly simply way that they felt about each other.

Kurt had stopped singing at some point, but she'd tumbled so deep into her thoughts that she'd hadn't even noticed. It was only when his voice in her ear interrupted her thoughts, speaking this time, that she realized that he was no longer singing to her.

 _Too bad_ , she thought, hoping that she might hear him do that again sometime.

Instead, she heard him say softly, "Hey, do you see the sign just up there? We're crossing into Maryland in a second."

She nodded slightly, turning her head towards him a little to reply just as quietly, "That's a shame… I kind of liked Virginia."

"Did you?" he teased her, making her blush all over again.

"Yeah," she heard herself say. She still couldn't figure out how he had such an effect on her, but it only seemed to be getting stronger.

Jane needed to look away from him, out at the world outside the car, just to come up for air from the way he was looking at her – not that she minded. She leaned her head against his chin, feeling him kiss her temple. The cars around them, which had been gradually slowing down for some time now, seemed to be moving even more slowly… or maybe it was just her imagination.

And then, as if the universe decided to be just a little bit kind to them for once, the cars in front of them came to a complete stop. She sat up straighter and looked ahead of them as far as she could, feeling Kurt behind her doing the same. A line of stopped traffic stretched ahead of them past the bend in the road, so they couldn't see the problem, only the fact that they weren't going to be getting out of that traffic any time soon.

"You're _kidding_ me," Sarah sighed in frustration from the front seat, hitting the steering wheel in annoyance with one hand, gripping it tightly with the other and glancing at Sawyer, who was staring out the window contentedly. "Jessica said there's _never_ traffic on this road."

Kurt had never in his life been _happy_ to be stuck in traffic, but that was exactly how he felt. While he would rather have been somewhere slightly more comfortable with Jane, and possibly somewhere without his sister and nephew, the fact that they were now going to be stuck in the car together indefinitely was more than okay with him. Yes, they would need to get home at some point. The logical side of his brain knew this. After all, they had to work tomorrow, and somewhere in between there sleep would have to happen.

Imagining sleeping alone at his apartment, however, was now much less than appealing. He didn't allow himself to sigh at the thought, instead pushing it away quickly. There was plenty of time for thoughts of that when they got there, and he wasn't exactly excited about them.

Feeling odd for doing so, Jane smiled at the traffic. _We'll see if you're so grateful for that stopped traffic later, when you have to go to the bathroom,_ a voice in Jane's head assured her. But at that moment, the fact that they were no longer moving seemed like a favor that was being done for them. After all, if the cars didn't move, they didn't get home. And if they didn't get home… well, she knew that it couldn't last forever, but she would take what she could get.

"I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a traffic jam," he whispered in her ear, her smile widening. Of course, he'd said what she was thinking once again. She closed her eyes and leaned against him, as happy as she had ever been – at least as far as she could remember.

XXX

It was nearly midnight when they pulled up in front of Jane's house. She'd been asleep for a little while, after fighting for most of the long trip to stay awake. "I don't want to waste the last of this weekend sleeping," she'd insisted, almost desperately.

"Ssshhh," he'd whispered. "I'm not going anywhere, Jane."

Still, she'd continued to fight sleep, despite how tired she obviously was. Finally, however, about thirty minutes before they arrived, she'd finally fallen asleep against his shoulder.

He hated to have to wake her. Hell, he hated the fact that they'd reached their destination at all. He'd have happily ridden in the car until the end of time if he could have, if it meant not letting go of her.

Shaking her slightly, and whispering her name into her ear, he felt her shift against him, tightening her hold on his hand. He assumed that it was accidental, a reaction to waking up groggy.

"Jane," he whispered, "we're at your place." That was when he figured out that her tightened grip hadn't been an accident, because it tightened again as she groaned slightly.

"Not yet," she said quietly.

He couldn't help but smile. What _should_ have been a six hour drive had just taken almost twelve hours, thanks to traffic that lasted the entire way back, but yet she wasn't ready to be home. Of course, he knew the feeling, and he wasn't ready to see the weekend end, either. Letting go of her hands, which was no easy feat considering the way she was trying to hold on, he leaned back slightly so that he could unbuckle both of their seatbelts. Since she wasn't exactly helping, he then leaned around her and opened the handle on her door, pushing it open with his foot. She glared at him as she climbed unhappily out of the car, stretching her stiff muscles.

Kurt climbed out after her, following her around the car to the truck, opening it and taking out her bag for her. He put the strap of her bag over his shoulder and then closed the hatch again, putting his free arm over her shoulder as they continued around toward the driver's side of the car. He had the distinct impression that if he didn't force her towards her door, she'd have stubbornly remained standing outside. They stopped by the driver's side window, and Sarah rolled it down, smiling at her. "Thank you so much, Sarah, this weekend was just… _amazing_ ," Jane said sincerely, her less than happy face relaxing into a smile.

"I'm glad you could make it, Jane," Sarah said. "And I'm glad you guys had so much fun." There was a twinkle in her eyes and told Jane that Sarah had known all along just how much fun they would have, even though the two of them hadn't. _Maybe all of the Wellers have superhuman powers_ , Jane thought fleetingly as her feet began moving again, carrying her against her will to her front door. Kurt helped propel her there, stopping behind her as she took out her keys and walked the last few steps, unlocking the door and reaching along the wall inside to turn on the light.

He took a small step forward and glanced over her shoulder, checking the interior for any unseen dangers. _Old habits die hard_ , he told himself, remembering the days when she'd lived in a safe house, and he'd been one of the people in charge of her security. These days she no longer had a safe house or a protective detail, but that didn't stop him from wanting to protect her.

She'd turned to lean against the door frame, now facing him, and he took another small step closer, reaching out to hand her the bag he'd been holding. She took it slowly, not wanting to give him an excuse to go by taking it. Finally, knowing she had no choice, she did, though she immediately set it down beside her in the doorway, just continuing to stare at him intensely, wishing there was something she could do to freeze time and stop him from leaving.

 _Anything_ , she thought _, I'll do anything._

 _There_ _ **is**_ _one thing you can do, though it won't freeze time_ … she told herself.

"I guess I should be going," he said, staring into her eyes and not moving. "Sarah and Sawyer are probably ready to get home." Sawyer had been asleep in the car for the past three hours or more, but poor Sarah, of course, was not so lucky. Kurt had tried to get her to let him drive part of the way, but she had refused, even as the traffic delay made their drive longer and longer.

 _You kissed him first_ , she reminded herself, _a long, long time ago. Of course you can say it. It's only words… Besides, you already_ _ **know**_ _the answer._

"Do you have to?" she asked quietly, feeling her face turn pink.

He took yet another small step closer, now standing only inches from her, though she was shorter in front of him than usual because she was still leaning tiredly against the door frame. The blush on her face hadn't escaped his attention, even in the limited light from behind her. Smiling, he reached up and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, a simple gesture that he never got tired of… the fact that he was allowed to do even that much, such a tiny and intimate touch, still seemed unbelievable to him.

"Not if you don't want me to," he replied in a whisper, smiling at her earnestly. There simply seemed to be no end to the depths of his feelings for her.

She looked as though she was going to choke on her words for just a second, but she managed to whisper, "I don't want you to." He smiled, leaning forward and reaching for her right hand, holding it loosely. His thumb moved gently across the back of her hand once again, back and forth across the honeycomb pattern that he could not see in the dim light.

The butterflies in her stomach were now churning up hurricane force winds. Surely, adults were not supposed to feel like this.

He didn't look surprised to hear her say that she didn't want him to go, but he certainly did look happy. It was as though he had already known before she'd told him, and he was just waiting for her to catch up. _Of course he knew_ , the voice in her head replied. _He always knows_. It was simply one of a million things that she loved about him…

 _Love. There's that word again_ , she thought nervously.

 _That's right,_ she told herself. _And you know that you love him, just like you know that he loves you. You've both said it, for goodness sake. You may as well accept it, finally._

She had planted her eyes firmly toward the ground, feeling like her cheeks would catch on fire from the heat they were giving off. When she felt him squeeze her hand, she looked back up at him and saw nothing but happiness dancing in his eyes.

"Okay," he said simply, as if he'd suspected that that would be her answer all along. "Good thing I have all my stuff in the car, then, huh?" he asked her with a grin. He dropped her hand reluctantly, turned without another word and jogged back to the driver's side window, which Sarah had already rolled down when he got there.

She was grinning at him, and he couldn't figure out why at first, but she spoke before he had a chance. "The trunk is open, and yes, I'll park it in your usual spot and leave the keys on the kitchen table so you can pick the car up before you guys have to go to work in the morning." Enjoying the stunned look on his face, she added, "Have a good night." He continued to stare at her, shocked that she'd known _precisely_ what he was going to say. Then, shaking his head and grinning, he simply leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thank you for an amazing weekend," he said. "And for taking such good care of me."

Shrugging, she smiled happily and replied, "What are sisters for?" Seeing him truly happy for the first time since he was ten years old was worth more to her than any thanks he could have given her. She was just relieved that finally, the two of them could see as clearly as she and everyone else around them could – how right they were for each other.

Watching as he grabbed his weekend bag, plus a small, spare bag that he always kept in his car _just in case_ , which she knew contained an extra work outfit, she couldn't help but feel grateful that she was there to see her brother so happy, and that she had had something to do with it. She glanced at Jane, standing in the doorway, the same smile on her face as on Kurt's, and thought that it could not have happened to two more deserving people.

Kurt closed the trunk and walked by Sarah again, waving as he passed the window and then jogging back to the door, where he slowed as he approached Jane. She stood up from the door frame and he stopped just for a second, looking into her eyes intensely. "Are you sure?" he asked.

She knew for certain that if she had changed her mind, he wouldn't have been upset with her, that he would simply have accepted it and gone home. It was another one of the things that she loved about him.

However, she was also sure that she wanted him to stay, so she simply nodded and stepped back to let him walk in past her, reaching for _his_ hand this time, to pull him inside and then closing the door behind him. A few seconds later they saw headlights moving as Sarah pulled back out onto the street, headed back to the apartment she and Sawyer _still_ shared with Kurt – despite the many times she'd promised to move out over the past few years.

She'd dropped his hand so that they could walk up the narrow stairs more easily, both carrying their bags, and already she missed the contact. He was one step behind her, walking at the same slow pace she was. At the top of the steps she stopped abruptly and he almost bumped into her. She turned around quickly and their faces were suddenly very close together, almost perfectly aligned, since he was one step down. Her eyes searched his for a second, and she found herself unable to look away.

"Keep going, silly," he said softly. In her bedroom, she put her bag down on the bed and rummaged inside for her small toiletries bag, taking it out along with a small bundle that he easily recognized as her pajamas, and went into the bathroom.

It occurred to him then that he knew what her pajamas looked like, and how she looked when she was sleeping, as well as how she looked when she'd first woken up… the little things that most people don't know about each other. These were small, intimate things that he knew about her that no one else, to his knowledge, did. He couldn't help but smile at that thought, feeling lucky.

It was ridiculous, she knew, asking him to stay – with all that that implied – and then going into the bathroom to change into her pajamas. Still, in her head it made sense, and she knew that he was fine with whatever she wanted. Thinking back, she'd always known this about him, but somehow she'd only just realized it now.

When she came out of the bathroom, he was sitting on the edge of the bed, wearing the same pajamas he'd been wearing that weekend, holding his toothbrush and toothpaste loosely and looking adorably sleepy. She smiled at him, saying, "Your turn," quietly and then brushing past him as he walked toward the bathroom and she walked toward the bed to move her bag to the floor.

With her bag set to the side to be dealt with tomorrow, she crawled into bed and got under the covers, which, in her tired state, had never felt so comfortable. She lay on her side facing the spot where Kurt would be in a moment. Scooting herself closer to the middle of the bed than she usually slept, she felt the tempest of butterflies in her stomach returning once more.

 _I have to be too old for this_ , she thought.

The feeling only intensified when the bathroom door opened and he emerged, turning off the light and walking slowly toward the far side of the bed. She watched his shadow move, the only light in the room filtering through the curtained window from the streetlight outside. The mattress shifted as he laid down, pulling the blankets back over him and then scooting toward her, until they were once again lying close together, facing each other, as they had now done a few times over the past few nights.

Despite the lateness of the hour, there was no longer the promise of another lazy day spent together the next day – though they _would_ be at work, so they would be physically in the same place. After this, it would all be different. Or rather, it would _cease_ to be different, and it would go back to the way it had been.

 _Or would it?_

She refused to think about that now, not with him lying there so close to her. For once, she didn't want to think, and she willed herself to stop.

Instead, she focused on a happier thought. _You did it once before_ , _and you can do it again_ , she reminded herself, thinking back to the first time she'd kissed him and smiling at the memory. They were staring at each other now, and she knew that he was waiting, taking his cues from her.

"What?" he asked her as she smiled at him fondly.

"I was just thinking about…" she began, but her voice trailed off as she leaned towards him. She was thinking that it felt much easier to be the one to kiss him first this time, after the weekend they'd had. After all, their feelings were already abundantly clear. There was no uncertainty, and she suddenly no longer worried that she would have regrets. On the contrary, the only twinge of regret that she felt was that they had taken so long to get here.

And just like that, everything in the world but them seemed to simply disappear from existence. All he could think was, _Finally…_ His senses were being bombarded with information, and the only other thing he could think coherently was, _Jane._ Really, those two words summed it all up.

She'd thought that she would have hesitated, that she wouldn't have been the one to make the first move, but as soon as he'd been there in front of her, it was as though the attraction between them – that had _always_ been between them, but that was now so much stronger – simply pulled her toward him. It was unlike any feeling she'd ever experienced… a simple longing for him, more powerful and more important than anything else in the world.

The closer she got to him, the more she knew that she was exactly where she was supposed to be. And when she kissed him, insistently this time, surprising herself with her relative boldness after mostly flirting with him all weekend… Well, she'd heard that timing was everything, and somehow, the time seemed to _finally_ be right for the two of them.

His hands were on the bare skin of her waist, in the space between her t-shirt and her pajama pants. He hesitated there, looking intently into her eyes and trying to read her – ever the gentleman. "You know what? I think this time I _do_ need help with that shirt," she whispered with a grin, alluding to the multiple times he'd innocently asked – or helped – her to take off her shirt over the course of the weekend, for the purpose of applying sunblock.

A grin flickered across his face, but then faded, and the intensity of emotion that remained in his eyes just then threatened to take her breath away – not because she'd never seen it before, but because she finally understood what it meant. He simply stared at her, and she started to wonder if something was wrong. As she tilted her head slightly in confusion, her smile dimmed just a little in confusion.

"What's wrong?" she asked quietly, concerned.

He shook his head, the smile slowly returning to his face. "Absolutely nothing," he whispered.

Removing his hands from her waist completely, which confused her for a second, he brought them out from under the covers and gently laid them on her cheeks, gently moving this thumbs against her skin and smiling at her for a few more seconds. In those few seconds, his eyes said more than words ever could have, and she almost felt as though time stood still. Then suddenly, before she knew it, he was leaning towards her for yet another kiss, this one lasting even longer than any of the previous ones.

Finally, as he stopped to allow both of them to catch their breath, their foreheads leaning against each other, his hands slid back down to the bottom edge of her t-shirt. He tugged it slowly but surely upward as she shifted, this time _without_ being told, in order to help him do so.

The shirt in question ended up on the floor, followed shortly by his own, and after a split second hesitation they moved slowly back towards each other. The feeling of bare skin on bare skin wasn't completely foreign, of course, after so many sunblock applications, but still they paused, proceeding slowly and smiling at each other as he ran his hand up her side and then across her bare back. The feeling was familiar, and yet new.

Time ceased to be a factor… in fact, it ceased to even _exist_ , as did all thoughts of anything but the two of them. The rest of it – labels and relationships and the small detail that he was her boss – well, they'd worry about that in the morning… or maybe the afternoon… but just not _now_. Because when it came down to it, none of that mattered. Not _really_. The only thing that mattered to either of them was the two of them, plain and simple. Everything else faded into background noise.

Neither of them knew if they believed in the idea of things that were 'meant to be.' Both of their pasts were more than a little too painful and complicated for them to easily swallow the idea that the way things _had_ happened was the way things were _supposed to_ have happened. However it had happened, they had ended up here, together, and that was really all that mattered.

And so, this time sleep could wait, no matter how tired they had thought that they were or how few hours remained until morning. After all, things between them had already waited fartoo long… and now the time was finally, _finally,_ right.

Much later, Kurt craned his neck as much as he could without moving the rest of his body so that he could watch Jane without disturbing her. She had fallen asleep against his chest, her ear positioned just over his heart and her left arm draped over him. His left arm was wrapped loosely around her waist, his hand moving slowly across the lines on her lower back that he could just barely feel, but not see, from his angle. Her face was peaceful, and as he watched her, he saw her smile in her sleep. It was a far cry from the nightmares from which he knew that she'd once suffered, and for that he was extremely grateful.

He kissed the top of her head, pulling the blanket up higher over them, and then draped his right arm around her as well, trailing his fingers down her back almost reverently, then back up again to the spot where he knew that his name was, even without being able to see it. He was still in awe that this was all really happening, after so much time and so many mistakes.

A small part of him wanted to wake her up so that he could look into her eyes and reassure himself that all of this was real, but he vetoed that idea, knowing that morning would come soon enough, and that they both needed their sleep. For the time being, the feel of her skin against his would have to be proof enough of how real she was.

Looking down at her once more, he couldn't help but think that there was _nothing_ in the world that would convince him to let her go. He may not have always appreciated the bond between them the way he should have, but he did now, and that was all that mattered. With that thought in mind, he allowed his eyes to close, perfectly content to be exactly where he was – with Jane.

 _A/N: I had actually written most of this chapter before this story was even halfway done, just because inspiration struck. This was supposed to be the last chapter, but thanks to MonkeyPajamas' awesome fic, Friday Night Gossip_ , _that fits so nicely with this one,_ _I decided to add one more chapter to include what actually happened when they went back to work. So there's one chapter left… You're welcome. And thank you all for reading, I really hope that you enjoyed this chapter… I've been looking forward to sharing it with you for quite a while._


	20. Nice of You to Join Us

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about it is simply the outlet for my obsession, and a fun way to escape reality.**

 _A/N: I know that I said this was the last chapter, and that was absolutely my intention. And then I started writing it, knowing what I wanted to include, and suddenly (as seems to happen to me a lot) it had ballooned far beyond my "average" (already long) chapter length. And because I was pretty sure that none of you would mind, I decided to split in into two chapters so I wouldn't feel pressured to keep it from being_ _ **too**_ _long (not that there's any such thing as too much of these two). So this is no longer the last chapter. I_ _ **think**_ _there's only one more… but I guess we won't know for sure until I finish writing it (It's mostly done, so the wait shouldn't be very long). This is also the chapter where MonkeyPajamas'_ _ **Friday Night Gossip**_ _– the Patterson and Zapata perspective of this story – starts to cross with this one, so it's like you're getting bonus chapters as well. I hope you enjoy both!_

The first time she woke up, she had a split second of panic. _Where am I? What's going on?_ Those two questions blared like alarm bells in her head and she almost had time to pull away from him before she realized that she _knew_ where she was, what was going on, and most importantly, _who she was in bed with_. She was back at home, in her own bed, and she was with Kurt. She'd fallen asleep against him as her pillow – in fact, she realized that she could hear his heart beating directly below her ear.

 _Thuh-thump. Thuh-Thump,_ it said reassuringly.

She smiled to herself tiredly. The sound of his heartbeat was just another small piece of him that she now knew that no one else did, and the thought made her happier than she would have imagined that it could have. She wanted to look at him, but didn't dare lift her head off of his chest for fear that her stirring would wake him. They both needed their sleep. After all, it was the middle of the night, and they hadn't been asleep all that long. Turning her head slowly toward the alarm clock on the other side of the room, she saw that there wasn't a lot of night left – it was already 3:35am.

There was a small dot illuminated on the alarm clock screen that meant that the alarm was set to go off. She didn't know what time it was set for – she'd never set it herself, never needed to use it. To this day she didn't sleep all that well, and was almost always up before dawn on her own. Even now, when the nightmares that she'd once suffered nearly every night were almost exclusively a distant memory, she still rarely slept all the way through the night. No, Kurt had set her alarm, she realized, and she had no idea what time it would be going off. Deciding that that didn't matter, she returned her attention to the man whose heartbeat she could hear.

Her left arm had been draped across him, her hand resting on the sheets on his other side. Slowly, not wanting to wake him but finding it impossible to resist, she ran her hand along the side of his right arm, up to his shoulder, gently tracing the bare skin, moving slowly along the muscles at the top of his arm.

 _This is impossible_ , she thought in awe. She thought back to the night before, when she'd asked him to stay, and couldn't help but smile at her own awkwardness.

 _Why were you so nervous?_ she asked herself teasingly. _What in the world did you expect? For him to say 'no?'_

And yet, despite her nerves, she'd gotten out enough words that here he was… She remembered the devotion in his eyes, and the way he had looked at her when he'd held her face between his hands. Her eyes closed on their own, her heart so full just then that it seemed entirely possible that it might burst. Surely, it was impossible to feel any more loved than she had at that moment, or than she did just then, thinking about it.

Now that her eyes were closed again, she saw flashes of their weekend float before her eyes, and she felt herself getting drowsy again. Without opening her eyes, she skimmed her fingers over his shoulder, along his collarbone, then back again, marveling at the fact that all this was real. She focused once again on the sound of his heartbeat below her and his arms wrapped loosely around her, one of his hands resting on her lower back, the other having ended up on the spot higher up her back where she knew that his name was. Turning her face ever so slightly towards this chest, she gently kissed the spot where her head was resting, turning back to snuggle against him.

"I love you," she said, so quietly it barely counted as a whisper, more as an exhaling of words.

She knew that she must be imagining it, but as she let herself fall back to sleep, blissfully happy, she swore that she felt his arms tighten just a little bit around her.

XXX

He wasn't really awake, but also not quite asleep, either. Rather, he was somewhere in between – only just awake enough to be relatively sure that he wasn't dreaming, though he couldn't rule it out completely. Still, he was not awake enough to open his eyes. He also couldn't be sure of whether Jane was awake, or simply moving slightly as she stirred in her sleep. All he did know was that he felt her hand move slowly along his shoulder, then back again, and that the sensation sent chills down his spine.

The slight movement was enough to call attention to the feeling of her skin against his, not just of her arm on his chest, but of _all_ of the places where her skin rested against his – and there were many just then. Nerve endings from so many parts of him reported the sensation of her skin against his, and even laying there with his eyes closed, he felt a little dizzy with elation. Even though he was living this moment, and he _knew_ that it wasn't a dream, in a way he still didn't believe that it was happening. Something this good? It just didn't happen to him.

Her movements slowed to a stop, and it seemed that, if she had been awake, she was falling back to sleep again. Then, he felt her shift only slightly, placing a light kiss against his chest, and before he could even think about reacting, in a breath that he almost didn't hear because it was so faint, he heard three words that filled his heart yet again – it seemed that Jane had endless talent to do this.

Though he hadn't wanted to give away the fact of his semi-consciousness, not wanting to disturb her as she fell back to sleep – while at the same time, wanting _very much_ to admit that he was partially awake and kiss her until they both ran out of air once again – he couldn't help it when the muscles in his arms contracted slightly around her, pulling her just a little closer as she grew still once more, falling back to sleep within a few seconds.

As he lay on his back, there in her bed, he couldn't help but catalogue everything about that moment. The sounds of the night that were particular to Jane's place – there were fewer sounds of traffic here than at his place, but more than there had been at the beach house. The light that spilled in from the streetlight outside, gave the room a faint glow. The pillow beneath his head, the soft sheets below him that were tucked around them haphazardly, pulled against his skin only in the places where Jane was _not_ pressed against him… that was by far the best part of this moment, of course. _Jane_.

He'd been in love with her for so long, he now knew, starting so very long before he'd even realized it, that to lay here with her now… It was certainly a sign that the universe had forgiven him for whatever sin he was sure that his life had felt like a punishment for over so many years. He had always assumed that the unhappiness that had pursued him relentlessly was what he had deserved for losing Taylor, no matter how many times he was assured that it hadn't been his fault.

This moment, on the other hand, felt like forgiveness that he didn't deserve, but that he would certainly cling to with everything inside him. Deserved or not, he would treasure this feeling, this happiness, for as long as he was allowed to be here, so close to her.

Glancing at the clock, which now read 3:57am, he felt himself slipping back into unconsciousness as well. The alarm, he knew, would intrude upon this perfect stillness far too soon, and while he almost hated to let himself fall back to sleep, knowing that he would miss those minutes where he could consciously enjoy laying there with Jane, he understood why sleep was necessary. Well, at least in theory.

Instead, he consoled himself with the fact that this reality that he was living in was not one from which he could be awoken. Impossibly, this was _real_. He really did have Jane beside him – draped _over_ him, to be more precise – and it didn't seem that either of them was going anywhere anytime soon.

 _Except work_ , he reminded himself, glancing at the clock once more and reminding himself that there was now – already six minutes after the last time he'd looked – _less_ than an hour until he'd set the alarm to go off. Letting his eyes fall closed once more, he leaned his head down, resting his face against the top of her head and inhaling the scent of her shampoo. There was nothing in the world that could make him happier than he was at that moment, he thought. And just like that, a feeling of bliss overpowered him as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

XXX

Music filled the room, suddenly blaring from the small clock radio that sat on the dresser against the wall opposite the bed. Jane had set it there so that it was easy to see from any angle, having had no use for the alarm feature. While sleeping through _most_ of the night, as she usually did, was a vast improvement from being jolted awake by the violent nightmares that had plagued her for so long, especially after her time with the CIA, she was only now, two years into her new timeline, considering the fact that she might eventually need to start using her alarm.

Then again, if Kurt was going to be around, maybe she'd start needing it sooner than later… the thought made her smile as she slowly became conscious.

Despite having woken up in the middle of the night, and despite the fact that they had not slept for what most people would consider long enough to wake up rested, she couldn't help but feel that she'd had the best night's sleep in her entire memory. The difference wasn't lost on her, of course, and she knew that the 'exhausted and yet well rested' sensation that she felt in every cell of her body could be attributed in every way to the man she was waking up with.

"Good morning," he said in a tired, gravely voice. She both heard and felt his words, since her head still rested on his chest. She felt the vibrations from his sleepy greeting spread all the way down to her toes and she smiled, her delight at hearing them from him while laying against his chest making her a little bit giddy. Of course, they'd woken up together three times already this weekend, but this time was… different. This time was – though she wouldn't have thought it possible – even better.

Raising her head slowly for the first time since she'd fallen asleep listening to his heartbeat the night before, she couldn't help but grin at him adoringly, shifting onto her right elbow so that she could scoot herself up, bringing their faces closer together.

She leaned towards him until their lips were just barely brushing against each other, then whispered, "Good morning," against his mouth before starting a slow, intense kiss that lasted until they were yet again both breathless.

"I could get used to that kind of 'good morning,'" he told her with a grin as they broke apart to look at each other. She glanced away for a split second, blushing slightly and then looking back at him happily, nodding in agreement.

"Me, too," she said simply. The sound of the DJ's voice on the radio called their attention to the fact that the alarm was still going off, but neither of them made a move to get out of bed. The man stopped talking, and the music that began playing became background to what was happening between them. After only a few more seconds of looking at each other, they moved closer once again.

At one point, Jane made a half-hearted attempt to point out that they needed to get ready for work, but Kurt replied, "I think the boss will understand," and so the idea of getting up was abandoned for the time being. He didn't exactly have to twist her arm, of course. Eventually, however, they reluctantly had to admit that they could not stall any longer, and against their wishes, they forced themselves out of bed.

"Later," he said, winking at her and then smiling sincerely, his tone implying that the word was a promise. She nodded, feeling the beginnings of trepidation in her stomach. Yes, they would have to manage to act professional around each other at work, and the thought of going so long without the now familiar contact between them wasn't something she enjoyed thinking about. Yes, it was only one day, a collection of hours, during which she would still _see_ him, she knew… though to be fair, one day could be _pretty_ intense in their line of work, and you never knew what could or would go wrong. They'd lived through enough days at the office to know that all too well.

XXX

Eventually, they made it to the kitchen, where Kurt tried to insist that she sit at the counter while he organized breakfast. When she pointed out that they were already late, and insisted that she could make coffee without jeopardizing their health, he reluctantly agreed, allowing her to start the coffee while he dealt with the actual food.

Jane's kitchen was pretty empty, and after a look at what supplies were on hand, he saw that their breakfast options were eggs or cereal. He would have to do something about the food situation, he told himself, and the thought made him smile. Any thoughts of a future with her made him smile, after all, even if it was just far enough in the future for them to go grocery shopping and bring back some food to fill up her kitchen. Hell, even if it was just far enough in the future to imagine the next time he would kiss her. He went about cracking eggs into a bowl with a smile on his face.

When the coffee was ready, she took hers and went to sit at the counter to watch him cook. When he looked back at her, he saw her staring at him in what appeared to be disbelief. When he asked her what was wrong, she just shook her head.

"I'm still not convinced that this is real," she replied, leaning her head against her left hand, her right hand wrapped around her coffee cup. He could certainly relate to that feeling.

Turning off the heat under the eggs and moving the pan to another burner, he turned and walked towards her, leaning forward over the counter as far as he could. As he had expected she leaned forward towards him as well, so that their faces her only inches apart. "Guess what?" he whispered.

"What?" she replied with a smile.

"It's real." With that, he leaned forward and kissed her. _This will never, ever get old_ , he thought. Then, as if nothing unusual had happened, he walked back across the kitchen to get plates so that he could serve breakfast.

Jane had protested that she wasn't hungry, but that didn't stop him from setting a plate of eggs in front of her. Another plate of eggs appeared beside hers, and after stopping to fill a mug with coffee, he walked around the corner from the kitchen to sit beside her at the counter, setting his coffee down with his right hand and trailing his left hand across her back as he walked behind her.

XXX

She shivered slightly when his hand moved across her back, despite the fact that there was a layer of clothing between his fingers and her skin, looking up at him and smiling.

 _How does he do that?_ she wondered.

He pulled his chair closer to hers, resting his left hand on her right leg and left it there as they ate, which she certainly didn't mind. She wasn't hungry, but she did her best to eat despite her increasing nervousness about the day ahead.

Finally, with half of her eggs still left on her plate, Jane set her fork down. Turning her head to look down at Kurt's hand on her leg, she was unable to help but to smile at the sight. She turned her body slowly toward him, her eyes still down, suddenly feeling like he was very far away. _Too_ far away. She felt him squeeze her leg reassuringly – he'd been watching her since she'd set down her fork, if not before that.

"Jane," he said quietly, but didn't say anything else. She knew that he was waiting for her to look at him, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. When her eyes remained down, he turned toward her, leaning forward and gently laying his right hand on her left knee to match the position of his left hand on her right knee. "Hey," he said quietly. She felt a sad smile spread across her face as she looked up at him.

He shook his head at her, leaning slightly forward, moving their faces into closer proximity. He smiled at her and in what she could tell was an attempt at humor, he said, "You have to at least give me a chance to screw things up before you get upset."

While she appreciated his joke, she bit her lip, shaking her head as her eyelids fell closed for a few seconds. When she looked back at him, she felt that she had to explain that it wasn't like that. It wasn't that she expected him to mess anythingup… After all, he'd been nothing but sweet to her for the entire long weekend – and really, for a lot longer than that, when she really thought about it… just maybe not quite as overtly.

But how to explain any of that? Where did she start? _It's so much more complicated than that_ , she thought, suddenly feeling slightly desperate for him to understand.

"No, I don't… I mean… That's not what I…" She exhaled in frustration that the words wouldn't come out right, shaking her head and looking away again.

She felt his hands tighten where they sat, now just above her knees. "Jane," he said, quietly but insistently, "I _know_."

 _Of course he knows_. The now familiar words echoed in her head once again. _It shouldn't surprise me anymore._

"It's going to be okay," he assured her once more. She nodded quickly, clearly trying to convince _herself_ more than him that she believed his words.

XXX

He knew very well that the words weren't going to be enough.

Unsatisfied with how close he could get to her while seated, he stood up and leaned forward. Since the chairs were at the height of the counter, the two of them were almost at the same level despite the fact that she was still seated. He put his arms around her shoulders tightly, pulling her into a tight hug. His left hand moved slowly up and down her back, while his right hand rested once again on the spot on her back where his name lay, albeit below her clothes.

"Let's finish up, and then we need to go. Okay?" he said soothingly, still rubbing her back. She nodded against him, inhaling slowly. He glanced at his watch and scoffed in amusement. "Wow… it's after 9:00 already," he said, shaking his head. He had a feeling that between the fact that it was two to three hours past when they both usually arrived – separately – the two of them arriving together, along with whatever Zapata and Patterson may have already said to the rest of the team, it was going to be an _interesting_ morning for sure.

Kurt sat back down, taking a sip of his coffee and then picking up his fork for another bite of eggs. They sat in silence for a few more minutes as Jane nursed her coffee but didn't touch her food and Kurt finished eating. Before either of them said a word, he was surprised to see Jane stand up, leaning towards him so that she almost ended up perched on the edge of his chair.

She didn't say a word, but she didn't really need to. After all, if she wanted to be closer to him, that was reason enough for him. He reached his left arm out, pulling her against him as he finished eating. He knew that nothing he could say would make a significant difference just then, but at least she looked slightly less panicked than she had a moment before.

 _Baby steps_ , he thought.

Kurt kept trying to make eye contact with her as they cleared their dishes, but she avoided his gaze. She continued to avoid looking at him as they gathered their things, but he was not deterred. Minutes later, as he held his cell phone to his ear as he called a cab to pick them up for the drive to his apartment, where his car waited for them, he finally locked eyes with her. He smiled, reaching for her hand as he hung up the phone.

XXX

As if by magic, she suddenly felt the knot in her stomach loosen, and she felt like maybe she could do this after all. A small but genuine smile crept across her face, and she realized just how concerned he had been when she saw relief wash over him.

"Okay?" he asked, and she nodded as they walked outside and she locked the door behind them. By the time they were at the curb, waiting for the cab he'd called, she had relaxed enough to begin to remember the happy sensation that she'd spent the weekend feeling. This was _much_ better than feeling stressed.

Inside the cab, they sat close together, and she immediately leaned against his shoulder.

 _Yes, this is definitely better_ , she thought. Of course, she couldn't sit close to him and lean against him at work. But the calm he was projecting just then was having an effect on her. She tried not to think any farther ahead than that moment, taking a deep breath.

"I wonder at what point Patterson and Zapata started losing their minds waiting for us to come in," Kurt said, laughing at the thought. "We're a _lot_ later than usual."

Jane couldn't help but chuckle at the thought, nodding her head in agreement. "Probably around 7:00 this morning," she replied, very conscious of the fact that that had been nearly two and a half hours before.

They stopped at Kurt's building to pick up his car keys, giving them two additional rides in an otherwise empty elevator together. Their time alone together could now be counted down in minutes, so Jane was thankful for every extra one they could get. Kurt stepped in front of her as they rode up to his floor, quickly resting his hands on her waist as soon as the doors closed and leaning down to kiss her. It was only seconds before the loud ding signaled that they had arrived, and they broke apart before the doors could open, holding hands as they walked down the hall.

Inside his empty apartment, Jane stood by the door while Kurt found his keys, exactly where Sarah had promised to leave them. It felt strange to her to be there, not because she'd never been there before, since she had, but because the last time she'd been there, everything had been so different. In a few seconds, Kurt was by her side again, and they were out the door and back to the elevators.

On the short ride back down to the lobby, Kurt stood with his back to the elevator wall, and Jane leaned her forehead against his chest. Without even thinking about it, his right hand once again found the spot in the middle of her upper back where, beneath her shirt, dark ink between the layers of her skin formed those unseen words. _Kurt Weller_. Rubbing her back gently, he held her right hand with his left.

"How do you know where it is?" she asked, not even realizing that she gave no explanation of what she was talking about.

It didn't matter, however, because even without context he knew exactly what she was asking him. He kissed the top of her head, then whispered, "I just know."

 _What more proof do you need?_ she asked herself. _It's going to be fine_.

Willing herself not to think even a second farther ahead than the elevator ride, she smiled determinedly, looking up at him. Of course, they were at the ground floor once again in a matter of seconds, which was far too soon, and they were at Kurt's SUV in what seemed like no time at all. He opened the door for her, only then reluctantly letting go of her hand as she climbed in.

XXX

Closing the door after her and seeing the physical barrier – the door – between them, he stood at looked at her for a few extra seconds, reminding himself that it wasn't a metaphor for anything, it was simply a door. Despite how much time he'd spent convincing Jane that things between them would work out, he now realized that he felt a little bit of the same fear as well. It was only natural, he supposed, since what they had was so good, the thought of losing it was appropriately frightening.

Settling into the seat next to her a moment later, he started the car, shifting into Drive and then easing into traffic, which was only slightly heavier than when he usually went into the office in the early hours of the morning. They'd missed the bulk of rush hour simply because they were running so late.

As soon as they were on the road he reached for her hand, which she surrendered with a smile. He lamented the fact that there was now a console between them, and that getting to hold hands was the closest they could get while either of them was driving. He said another silent thank you to Sarah for driving them home the day before, which had allowed them so much time close together in the back seat.

Even holding her hand as he was, he couldn't help but feel like she was very far away from him, and he couldn't imagine having to ride in the car for twelve hours this way – even though they'd done it for _six_ hours on the Thursday night. After all, things had been different then.

XXX

The car came to a stop inside the lines of the parking space, and Kurt let go of Jane's hand in order to shift the car into Park. He turned to look at her then, and their eyes lingered on each other's for a few seconds before either of them moved to get out. Taking his eyes off of her for only a split second, he turned the key and the engine stopped. Still they sat there, watching each other and knowing what came next. Jane smiled at him first, then slowly opened her door.

 _I can do this_ , she told herself, waiting for him outside the car.

She watched as he followed suit, knowing that going inside the building was inevitable, but still wishing that there was another option. Still, the sooner they went into work, the sooner they could come back out of work – at least in theory – though it wouldn't be nearly soon enough. Outside the car, he pressed the Lock button on the keyfab and the car chirped loudly, echoing in the stillness of the garage.

It felt strange to walk side by side from the garage into the building without touching. Surely the last time they'd been this close and yet this far apart had been _ages_ ago. Thinking back, she realized that no, it had been Thursday afternoon, less than four days – or more specifically, about ninety hours – ago. That seemed impossible. She had to fight the urge to take his hand, which grew stronger with every step they took. When she glanced up at him and saw the look on his face, she was willing to bet that he was feeling a similar pull.

Inside the elevator they were granted a momentary reprieve, and as the doors closed it felt as though they were pulled together by a force at least as strong as magnetism. It had already been far too long, after all.

It had been approximately two minutes.

This did _not_ bode well for the rest of the day, but such was their reality now. Instead of using these precious seconds to worry about what was to come, she focused on the man who was in front of her.

He lifted his hand to her cheek, stroking it slowly with his thumb and looking into her eyes and for a second, time stood still. All too soon, however, he removed his hand from her face again. They both knew that they were nearing their floor, and they used the last few seconds before the loud _ding_ to lean towards each other for a short but sweet kiss.

In what felt like an instant the elevator was stopping, and they pushed themselves apart so that when the doors opened, they were standing slightly apart from each other. However, if anyone had been watching, they would have seen him hesitate slightly, letting Jane walk out of the elevator first, his hand automatically brushing behind the middle of her back unconsciously as he followed her out into the midst of the regular chaos of their department.

XXX

As they stepped out onto their floor, she took a few steps to the side and then stopped so that she was no longer directly in front of the elevator. He was forced to stop as well, or he would have immediately walked past her. He looked down at her without a word, watching her face carefully as she looked back up at him and smiled, though it seemed to be taking a concentrated effort. As far as he could tell, her face was a mixture of determination, uneasiness and yet… she still looked calmer than he imagined that she felt just then. She was faking it well, which was what today would be all about.

"I'll see you later," he said softly, not ready to break eye contact with her. She simply nodded, and before either of them had a chance to look away on their own, familiar voices broke through the stillness. Patterson and Zapata were advancing toward them, moving in quickly.

 _So close,_ he thought, feeling silly for having hoped that they'd be able to slip in unnoticed. Knowing those two, they'd probably been waiting for them all morning.

Jane and Kurt allowed themselves a split second to grin at each other, their eyes widening slightly at each other, knowing exactly what came next. Then they turned and looked up at the faces of the two women who now stood right in front of them. Both Zapata and Patterson were trying, and failing, to act casual, as if they hadn't been watching the elevator doors. In fact, if Kurt didn't know better, he'd say that the two of them looked… what _was_ the look on their faces? He thought that gleeful might not be far off. They certainly looked excited, that was for sure.

"Hey you two, nice of you to join us," Zapata said loudly, looking knowingly from Jane to Kurt and back again. Other heads turned in their direction at the sound of Zapata's voice, and Jane couldn't help but blush.

Kurt got the feeling that the two agents in front of him knew more than he was entirely comfortable with, though he doubted that it was because of the few short texts that Jane had sent. This was the problem with working for the FBI – he had very sharp, intuitive coworkers, and it was hard to keep secrets from them. Combine that with the fact that these same coworkers had many different means of information gathering at their fingertips and apparently, some of them weren't afraid to use them against himself and Jane. All in all, it made that moment more than a little awkward for two of the four of them.

He nodded at Patterson and Zapata, trying to keep his face in his usual neutral expression, but he was finding it difficult. The excitement on their faces as they looked back and forth between them was more than a little bit unsettling. Despite the fact that he knew that their teasing, which would be starting any second, would be good natured, he still felt that he had to brace himself for it.

"We'd started to think maybe you two were taking a personal day," Patterson said with a grin.

"No… traffic was _horrible_ coming back yesterday. It was supposed to be a six hour drive, and it took us about twelve hours. So we got in _really_ late," he heard Jane say beside him. All of those things were true… Of course, none of those things were quite the reason they were so late for work, but never mind that. "So we just got a late start this morning," Jane was saying.

Patterson and Zapata both nodded knowingly in front of them, grinning as if they wanted to make a comment, but were holding back. Kurt was becoming increasingly uncomfortable as he stood there, but he felt slightly guilty at the thought of just walking away and leaving Jane with all of the attention focused on her – even though Zapata and Patterson were her friends.

"Of course you did," Zapata mumbled, and Patterson elbowed her in the side as both of them erupted in giggles. When they finally got themselves under control, Zapata changed tactics. "So… you drove in together?" she asked, once again doing a very poor job of masking the question she was actually asking. _So, you guys came from the same place this morning?_

"Carpooling is good for the environment," Kurt replied quickly in his best deadpan, his face betraying nothing. He felt satisfaction as he saw Zapata bite her lip, struggling to hold in both a burst of laughter and whatever it was that she really wanted to say. He wasn't sure how long he could keep going on like this.

Patterson kindly steered the conversation in a different direction, asking innocently, "So, did you guys have fun at the beach?" Still, she barely managed to say it with a straight face.

"We did," Kurt nodded. He swore that he could actually feel heat radiating off of Jane beside him from how deeply she was now blushing, even without touching her. He glanced at her, watching as she tried to nod nonchalantly, even though their audience wasn't buying it.

"Yeah," Jane replied, "it was great." He watched as she took a deep breath, her color only slowly returning to normal as she glanced at him and smiled. He was certain that Zapata and Patterson were, of course, loving every second of this just as much as he was hating it.

"Well, good," Zapata said in amusement. "And it looks like you guys got some sun, too. So I guess that means you actually went outside…?" That time ever Patterson turned to look at Zapata in surprise.

Kurt opened his mouth to say something, but he was so surprised that the words didn't come quickly enough. Before he could react, Zapata – perhaps sensing that she had gone over the line – added quickly, "I'm _kidding,_ boss." Kurt closed his mouth, shaking his head at her.

"Seriously though, you're both a little pink," Patterson observed, "You used sunblock, right?"

The speed with which Kurt saw Jane's head snap up as her eyes flew to his once again had probably told Patterson and Zapata that there was something to tell about sunblock, and he expected them to comment on it immediately. Instead they just watched the interaction with obvious interest. He assumed that they were drawing their own conclusions, whatever those may be, and that that would be a topic of follow up questioning later.

 _This is the problem with working with extremely observant and well trained agents,_ he thought to himself. _It's hard to get much past them. Not that we ever had much hope of doing that in the first place._ After all, he'd already been told many times how clear his feelings for Jane had been to everyone else from the beginning, long before _he_ had realized that they were there.

Kurt decided that he'd had all he could take of this welcome party. "Alright ladies, I have some work to do… Don't _you_ have some work to do?" He pretended to give them a stern look, his eyes ending up on Jane. Looking at her, he couldn't help but smile, momentarily forgetting that the other two were even there.

Jane seemed to sense this, and perhaps in order to spare him embarrassment, he thought afterwards, she said "So, I'll see you later?" This broke him out of his reverie, and he nodded at her thankfully, his face turning serious as he nodded at Zapata and Patterson. Before he turned away, he looked back at Jane once more for just a split second, before forcing himself to break eye contact with her and head for his office.

He heard Zapata and Patterson add in their own teasing variations of _goodbye_ as he walked away, and then, before he was even out of earshot, he heard Zapata whisper loudly to Jane, unable to suppress the amusement in her voice, "Jane, we need you in Patterson's lab. _Right now_." Kurt turned to see the other two women dragging Jane away, one of them on each side of her with their arms linked through hers. He felt sorry for her. After all, she was about to be interrogated mercilessly, albeit by her friends.


	21. Just Beginning

**Disclaimer: I still do not own Jane or Kurt or Blindspot. Writing about it is simply the outlet for my obsession, and a fun way to escape reality.**

 _A/N: Okay, this time it really IS the last chapter. (It had to happen eventually) Of course, there's still whatever MonkeyPajamas adds to Friday Night Gossip…_

Kurt sat in his office, trying to concentrate on the work in front of him. The whole concentrating on work thing was not going well. All he could think about, of course, was Jane, which wasn't much of a surprise after the last few days. Or, if he was being honest with himself, it shouldn't have been much of a surprise considering how much time he'd spent thinking about her over the past two years. His feelings were more intense now, certainly, but they weren't exactly new. He just hadn't understood them before.

 _Of course you can't concentrate on anything else. That's how it is when you're in love_ , the voice in his head told him, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He felt a very "un-Kurt Weller-like" smile slowly creep across his face at the thought. So _this_ was the feeling that he'd heard so much about. He had to admit, it was even more powerful than he'd imagined, which seemed fitting. After all, Jane herself was a force of nature.

He tried to imagine what was happening in Patterson's lab – what details Patterson and Zapata were pressing her for. Knowing that he was the main topic of the women's conversation at that moment made him more than a little uncomfortable, being a relatively private person. Breathing deeply, he reminded himself that Jane shared this trait. While the other two women were her friends, he knew that there was only so much information they were going to get out of her. She'd withstood _CIA torture_ , after all, so she was not going to break under the pressure of some girl time. She would probably tell them enough of the highlights to entertain them, but not more than that. He knew that he didn't need to be worried…

He wouldn't say that he was worried. No, more… uncomfortable. Patterson and Zapata were like younger sisters to him (sometimes less annoying than his actual sister, sometimes more so), and he knew that their intense interest in the relationship between himself and Jane was born out of a genuine desire to see the two of them happy – which, of course, meant that they had a lot in common with Sarah.

Despite the fact that he _knew_ all of these things, and knew that the women's "interrogation" of Jane was friendly, he was still intensely glad that he didn't have to go through it. He wondered again how it was going, and hoped that they weren't making Jane _too_ uncomfortable. Mostly, however, he just wished that the day was over so that they could go somewhere where this new relationship between them wouldn't raise any red flags. Even when they'd walked in together side by side, they'd already been _much_ too far apart as far as he was concerned.

It was almost two hours later when he next saw any of the women again. Zapata returned first, settling herself at her desk and getting a strange look from Reade, who probably hadn't even known what was going on or where she'd been or so long, Kurt imagined. The other agent had seemed to be oblivious to the exchange by the elevator when he and Jane had arrived, when Kurt had caught a glimpse of him at his computer, focused on his work.

Zapata, to her credit, sat down as if nothing unusual had happened, appearing to get back to whatever she'd been doing earlier. However, only about a minute later, Kurt could feel eyes on him and when he looked up, he saw Zapata staring at him with an odd look on her face. She smiled crookedly at him, seeming to acknowledge that he'd caught her, and looked back at her computer screen.

Kurt watched as Reade said something to her, appearing to ask her a question, to which Zapata just shook her head and said a few words. Kurt imagined that Reade had asked her something along the lines of 'What's going on?' or 'What's so funny?' since Zapata had an unusual grin on her face, but she had probably brushed it off, telling him it was nothing. Kurt watched as Reade continued to look at Zapata somewhat suspiciously for another minute, as she revealed nothing that he could see. Reade, then, turned backed to him computer screen, going back to whatever he'd been working on all morning.

 _At least someone is focused on work today_ , the voice in Kurt's head observed. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes and scrubbing his hand across his face, and then back through his hair. There were so many things that he needed to get done, which was never going to happen if he didn't figure out how to make himself focus better. Getting Jane out of his head completely wasn't an option, but he at least needed to move her from the front and center position in his mind. At least for a little while.

The next of the three women he saw was, he noted with a smile, was Jane. She walked back into the bullpen area and sat down at the computer across the room, the one which she had finally claimed as her own workstation only a few months before.

For a long time after she'd come back, even after Sandstorm had been taken down and the team seemed to be functioning _almost_ as well together as they had back before all the lies had started, she'd continued to work on a laptop in one of the conference rooms, never spending too much time in close proximity to the rest of the team when her presence wasn't required. Everyone had wondered why, but she had always insisted that she just liked it that way. Jane being Jane, she had been slow to admit to anyone the real answer, and they, not wanting to push her, had let her keep her distance from them. Looking back, Kurt knew that he of all people should have known that this was not in her best interest.

It had come out eventually that she had felt like she needed to simultaneously stay out of the team's way and, out of a perceived need for self-preservation that hadn't been there when she'd first come to the FBI, that she needed to remain separate from them for her own good. Back in the early days, she had gravitated toward them, needing them – especially Kurt – to give her stability. During her torture at the hands of the CIA and her time as a double agent with Sandstorm, she'd come to feel like she needed to separate herself from everything and everyone on all sides. For a long time, she had trusted no one, because she felt like no one had trusted her, only used her or tried their best to do so.

But if she kept herself separate from them, nothing could touch her. Not rejection, not betrayal, not any emotion that she could fall victim to. And so even after she was safe, after the team had accepted her once again and all seemed to be forgiven on both sides, she had maintained an emotional wall around herself. The fact that the things that had made her want to protect herself in the first place were no longer there was irrelevant. She had come to see this behavior as essential, and it was impossible for her stop on her own. She was now protecting herself from the _team_. When Kurt had finally realized that, that was when things could finally start getting better.

The campaign to convince her to trust them had taken a while, but she had finally accepted the idea that she was going to remain a member of their team, that she wasn't in their way by working in their midst, and that it was okay to finally let her guard down. On the contrary, they had insisted, she was one of them, and she should be right there with them. Even now, however, he'd noticed that every time she sat down at that computer, she still looked around for a few seconds before settling in, as if she had the sudden fleeting thought that she shouldn't be there, before remembering that those days were behind her. It was hard to watch, and he'd hoped that someday she would move past that reflex.

 _Baby steps_ , he reminded himself. After all, look how far _all of them_ had come in the past year. Besides, a lot had changed in the past four days, and hopefully now it would be easier for her to internalize the fact that she was part of their dysfunctional FBI family for good.

This time was different, however. As Kurt watched her, he was surprised when, instead of looking around the whole area like every other time, Jane's eyes snapped immediately to his. She looked at him through the glass that separated his office from the bullpen where the rest of them worked, not looking away when she saw that he had caught her looking at him. On the contrary, she smiled at him. He immediately felt the sensation of warmth that had become so familiar over the past few days spreading through him as he smiled back at her. His eyes shifted when he saw movement a few feet behind Jane, which was when he saw Patterson standing there, watching _him_ watching Jane. There certainly was a lot of watching going on around their office today.

Patterson just grinned at him, and then turned around to walk back towards her lab. Kurt rolled his eyes, looking back down at the papers in front of him, determined to get _something_ done before hopefully taking a break to get some lunch.

Another half hour later, he'd finished dealing with the current stack of papers. It hadn't taken so long once he'd finally forced himself to get _started_. Starting the next item on his to do list, on the other hand, would mean diving into a whole new project, and his stomach was already protesting loudly. When he looked up at the clock, he understood why. It was just after 1:00 already, which he supposed made sense since it had been just barely before 10:00am when they'd gotten in. He stretched in his chair and stood up slowly, feeling every bit of the sleep deprivation of the previous night, and yet also feeling that it had been completely worth it.

As tired as he was, there was a buzz in his head, not even a sound exactly, though that was the best way he could describe it – maybe more like lightheadedness – that he couldn't ever remember feeling before… Well, except in the past few days. Looking across the room at Jane, staring intently at something on the screen in front of her, the buzzing that wasn't really a buzzing intensified, and he knew without having to guess that she was the cause.

 _You're lightheaded when you think about her… when you look at her. Well what do you_ _ **think**_ _that means, Agent Weller? Let me give you a clue. That's happiness. Love, even,_ the voice in his head told him matter-of-factly, in a tone that suggested that really, he should have known this. It was no wonder he'd never felt that sensation before, since both of those emotions had alluded him for most of his life. He realized that he was smiling at her, and, feeling like an idiot for standing in his office watching her and grinning at her from across the room, he decided that they could both use some lunch.

He could tell that she was concentrating on something because she didn't seem to hear him approaching. "Hey," he said, stopping beside her and looking down at her fondly. "You want to go get some lunch?"

There was surprise in her eyes when she looked up at him, since she hadn't heard him until he was right behind her, and she smiled happily.

The urge to put his hand on her shoulder, or her neck, or any part of her at all, in fact, was intense, but he fought it valiantly. This was not the place for that, as much as he wanted it to be.

"Absolutely," she said, blinking quickly and reaching up to stretch her arms in the air, then immediately covering her mouth as a long yawn escaped her. He watched her in amusement.

"Were you up late last night, or something?" he asked casually. His eyes twinkled and she nodded, stifling a grin the best she could.

"Yeah," she replied, " _very_ late. But it was totally worth it." Standing up slowly, she stared into his eyes, which were locked onto hers. They stood in front of each other for a few seconds, not moving or blinking, before she smiled at him, and as if he'd just realized he wasn't moving, he turned to walk to the elevator without another word, as she followed closely behind him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Zapata watching the two of them go. Standing up casually herself, he watched her practically sprint down the hall in the direction of Patterson's lab. Shaking his head as he and Jane stepped into the elevator, he didn't give it another thought. Why would he, when he had a precious few seconds alone with Jane, after all? Who knew what those two were up to this time.

As soon as the doors were closed, she melted against him, his arms around her securely as he kissed the top of her head. "I missed you this morning," she told him. "Which I know is silly, but…"

"I missed you, too," he told her, reluctantly letting go of her just before the doors opened on the ground floor. They walked out into the sunshine of a day that was noticeably cooler but no less sunny than the ones in Virginia had been. "So, what do you feel like?" he asked her. This whole going out to lunch thing was strange to him. It wasn't uncommon for him to order in or to skip lunch altogether, especially in the year since he'd taken over as Assistant Director. He supposed he could be considered a workaholic, but really, everyone on his team could be as well. It was just part of constantly having to save the world.

"Coffee," she said decisively, which made him chuckle.

"I actually meant _food_ , you know…" he said with a grin, too which she just smiled and shrugged. "So basically… you're okay with anywhere that has food, as long as they also have coffee?" he asked, looking at her in amusement.

"Oh right, yes… food, too," she said with a nod. They'd stood just under a foot apart from each other for this short exchange, but it was becoming more and more difficult for him to be so close to her without getting any closer.

"Okay, coffee shop it is," he declared, taking her arm and tugging it through his to pull her closer to him as they walked down the block. A few minutes later, they found their favorite nearby coffee shop almost empty, lunch not being their busiest time of day. After being seated at the table in the far back corner, they decided that they had been as discreet as they could stand for the time being and slid close together on the same side of the booth. They sat facing the door, though obscured from the immediate view of anyone who might come in unless they purposely walked halfway back through the restaurant. Basically, it was the most privacy they could hope for in this part of town without being in a closet – which, while it might have had more privacy, wouldn't have served food or coffee.

Even though they'd been there probably hundreds of times between the two of them, they did have to look at their menus. They'd never ordered anything there besides coffee and breakfast foods before, after all. While they tried to focus on the words on the pages in front of them, they maintained constant contact with each other – their legs were pressed together and he held her right hand in his left, their fingers intertwined and his thumb moving back and forth against her skin as their hands rested against her leg.

 _Maybe sitting beside each other is the trick to being able to focus on the menu,_ he thought. After all, when they'd had breakfast at Doc Taylor's in Virginia Beach, he'd been across from her, and it had been nearly impossible for either of them to look away from the other. Here, on the other hand, he wasn't facing her and therefore didn't have to pull his eyes from her, and as a bonus, they could sit as close together as they could manage and still be able to focus – well, _mostly_ focus – on the menu.

Still, he had to read the words in front of him several times before they sank into his brain. The majority of his energy was being used on simply absorbing the sensation of having her beside him. After the multiple hours without it that morning, he felt starved for contact with her. It was almost as though he'd been holding his breath all that time, and now that she was finally close to him once more, he could breathe again.

While they waited for their food, he asked the obvious question. "So… how did it go with the girls this morning? You three were missing for quite a while."

Jane blushed involuntarily, before she even had a chance to attempt to hide her reaction. Not that there was anything to hide, of course. But she knew that Kurt had seen Patterson and Zapata drag her away, and it was fairly obvious what they had wanted to talk to her about…

"It was…" she began, hesitating and trying to think of how to put it into words. "Kinda intense. I'd forgotten what it was like to be questioned by the FBI." He chuckled at that, his mind automatically going back to the first time he'd sat in front of her in the interrogation room, when she'd put her hand up to his face in an attempt to trigger a memory. He remembered the feel of her hand on his cheek, and he felt warmth in the spot that she had touched so long ago – even though he hadn't liked it at the time.

As if reading his mind, she turned her body to face him, then pressed the back of her left hand – since her right hand was already holding his - into that exact spot, holding it more steadily against him than she had the first time, feeling him lean into it.

After holding her hand there for a few seconds, she slowly let it drop again, turning forward again and letting her eyes drop to the table. "I mean," she said in a more cautious tone, "I definitely prefer their tactics to…" She stopped and inhaled sharply, and he knew that the words she was unable to say were ' _the CIA_ ,' and he understood precisely why they'd gotten stuck in her throat. He didn't even know why she'd decided to bring up that time at all. As he squeezed her hand in his, he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

 _That's over_ , he thought, willing her to hear his unspoken words. From the way she smiled sadly, he was pretty sure she had gotten the message.

"It was what I expected," she continued, the hesitation of a few seconds before having dissipated. "They had a _lot_ of questions… Some of them they got answers to, some they definitely didn't." Looking up at him suddenly, seeming almost shocked, she said, "I didn't know girls told each other… _those kinds of things_." Her eyes were wide and she looked so innocent, so beautiful, that Kurt almost laughed out loud.

He had a sister, so thank goodness he at least had a clue what Jane was talking about, and he just shrugged at her. "Some do… some don't. Just like anything else."

Nodding, and appearing to take in this new information, she looked down at the table and seemed to think about it. He didn't want to ask her anything too invasive, because he didn't want it to seem like he didn't trust her, and yet there were a few things he was truly curious about in terms of that long conversation. After all, he was used to having all of the facts of a situation.

"So… _If_ I'm allowed to ask… what was the most personal question about the weekend that they asked you _that you answered_?" he asked, truly curious. He wouldn't ask her anything else if she just told him that, he promised himself. He knew that it wouldn't be anything he would be uncomfortable with – this was simply how much faith he had in Jane.

She smiled as she thought back, and he could tell right away that it was a memory that she liked. This made him smile, too, and made him even more interested in the answer.

"The most personal question that _I answered_?" she asked him, finally making eye contact. She briefly thought about all of the many questions that she _hadn't_ answered, but that her eyes had answered for her, but those didn't count. Never mind that that girls had made their own assumptions, and some of them had been correct. She couldn't help that.

He nodded, looking into her eyes and waiting. They seemed to twinkle up at him like miniature stars, and he was momentarily hypnotized. Still smiling, she said, "They asked me… if I loved you. And then Zapata said, 'Well of course you love him, we've known that, like, forever… but do you actually admit that you love him? And have you guys told _each other_?'" Her smile grew even wider then, as she remembered, and he grinned too.

Jane went on talking as Kurt listened. "And I told her, yes, that we both knew, and yes, we had said it, and that… I couldn't remember the feeling from… _before…_ but that even if I had, I _know_ that it wasn't ever as good before as it is now."

"You said that?" he asked her quietly, slightly in awe.

"I did," she replied simply. "Because I truly believe it."

He looked at her in disbelief and just shook his head. "How did I get so lucky?" he asked.

Even though the question had been rhetorical, she thought about it seriously for a few seconds, then answered, "Finally making up for lost time, I guess. We both are."

He was about to kiss her when their waitress suddenly appeared with their food, so he had to content himself with squeezing her hand, suddenly holding onto it as if his life depended on it. As they thanked the waitress and she walked away, she laid her other hand over the back of the one that she was holding, so that his left hand was enclosed between both of hers.

When she looked up at him, she felt tears prickling her eyes and she hoped that he couldn't see them. Really she wasn't sad – not at all – and she didn't want him to think that she was. No, she was overcome with happiness just then, and simply didn't know how to express it.

They lingered in the coffee shop just long enough to eat, both of them emerging back into the sunshine with large cups of coffee that they hadn't yet finished. He hated to have to go back to work, but he knew that a million things awaited him there, and the sooner he was finished, the sooner he could go home.

 _The sooner_ _ **we**_ _can go home,_ he corrected himself, feeling a smile on his face involuntarily at the thought.

They dropped their arms from each other about half a block from the building, without comment, just a lingering look shared between them and a determined half smile on each of their faces. They both waved to Wilson, the security guard, as they re-entered the building, and all too soon they were leaving the elevator and back on their floor, headed for their separate desks. Their lunch break had felt as though it was over in the blink of an eye, and the afternoon seemed to stretch out in front of them to infinity. Still, it had to be done.

He was back into something of a rhythm with his work – the file he was going through was pretty dense, and if he _didn't_ give it his full attention, he knew that he'd have to go through it all over again – and so, mercifully, the afternoon seemed to pass more quickly than he had feared it would. Before he knew it, Zapata and Reade were standing in his doorway, waiting for his attention.

"Hey, boss," Zapata said, then waited for him to look up. "Anything we need to take care of before we call it a day?" Glancing at his watch, Kurt saw that it was already almost 6:00.

 _Where did the day go?_ he wondered. Not that he was complaining, of course, because it meant that it was just about time for him to leave – _with Jane, hopefully_ – as well. Shaking his head at the pair, he said, "No, thankfully things were quiet today. Just catching up on paperwork here."

He felt Zapata looking at him pointedly. "You're leaving soon, though, right?" Without even realizing it, he glanced toward Jane's workstation, and noticed that she wasn't there. He'd just started to feel a twinge of disappointment, but before he could say anything in response, Zapata added, "She's didn't leave. She's hanging out in Patterson's lab, currently waiting for you to be done with whatever you're doing. I was just down there. She wanted me to tell you to hurry up."

He felt an embarrassed smile on his face, and Zapata crossed her arms across her chest, grinning in what he swore was satisfaction and raising her eyebrows at him "So? You going, or what?"

Shaking his head in resignation, realizing that the situation between himself and Jane was going to be something that seemed to make _all_ of them happy, no matter how much it logically felt like it should be only about the two of them, he said, "Alright, thanks Zapata. You guys get out of here." Reade pushed the door open and stepped out of the office, but Zapata did the opposite, walking up to his desk and resting her right hand on the edge, leaning down slightly towards him.

"I've never seen either of you so happy. We're all just really happy for you both," she said quietly. Her voice was more serious than usual, devoid of any of her usual jokes.

He nodded, smiling at her. "Thanks, Zapata." He felt like he should say something else, something more heartfelt, but as usual, he wasn't sure what else to say – so he stopped there, added simply, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"You promise that you're going _now_? Because I promised her I'd get you heading that way," Zapata said, looking at him with her trademark mix of a smile and a mildly threatening expression. She wasn't one to mess with, as he knew very well.

"This is me, putting the file away," he said, closing the file on his desk and standing up to replace it in the file cabinet, then locking it. "I'm going. Now get out of here." Kurt turned to see Reade standing halfway to the elevator, waiting for Zapata. It struck him then how very lucky he was that his team had survived the turmoil of the past few years. They were possibly even stronger for having gone through it.

"Night, boss," Zapata said as she smiled at him, pushing through the door to catch up with Reade and walking towards the elevator.

Kurt surveyed his office once more, beyond ready for the day to be behind him, then made his way out into the bullpen area, which was now empty. Zapata and Reade stood waiting by the elevator, where Reade was impatiently looking up at the digital display above each elevator that showed their current locations, and Zapata was, of course, watching Kurt.

"I'm _going_ ," he called to her, rolling his eyes and shaking his head as he turned down the hall.

He could hear voices as he approached Patterson's lab, and he slowed as he got closer. Looking through the open doorway, he saw Jane there, sitting on a stool by the counter and smiling as Patterson appeared to be in the middle of a story. He stopped and leaned against the inside of the doorframe for a second, listening and enjoying the chance to see Jane so relaxed. It was only a matter of seconds, however, before his presence was no longer a secret.

"Hey, Weller," Patterson called across the room, which made Jane immediately turn to look at him. She already looked happy, but her smile changed then. He couldn't quite explain it, except to say that her regular, happy smile morphed into the one that seemed to originate from her eyes more than her lips. Of course, that sounded crazy, but it was the only way he could describe it.

"Hey," Jane said simply, turning on her stool to face him. Patterson, he noticed, had completely forgotten that she was in the middle of a story, and was staring at him with nothing short of complete and utter delight – as if he was about to provide some form of major entertainment. He felt slightly uncomfortable, but knew that her excitement was friendly, and that she was happy for _their_ happiness. To be honest, he wasn't used to this whole happiness thing, and he didn't know quite how to deal with it.

He walked forward into the room, stopping a few feet from where the women were sitting and glancing awkwardly back and forth between the two of them. "You ready to go?" he asked Jane. His eyes flicked to Patterson briefly, and he was slightly unsettled to see that she was _still_ grinning at him, so he looked back at Jane once more. He was getting more and more uncomfortable with the two of them staring at him, despite their smiles. What exactly had been _said_ about him during the course of the day, anyway?

"Yeah," Jane replied, her voice shaking him out of his thoughts. "Let's go." She slid off her stool but stood awkwardly, looking back and forth from him to Patterson and biting her lip, suddenly unsure how to act.

Patterson groaned in exasperation. "You guys know you don't have to stand three feet apart for my benefit, right?" she asked. Kurt got the feeling that if he and Jane got any closer together, the blonde might spontaneously combust with happiness. Still, she was like a sister to him and he appreciated her comment, as awkward as the whole thing was. He nodded at her, smiling self-consciously, and wished in vain that he was about three blocks from there – with Jane, of course.

"Duly noted," he said, looking from Patterson to Jane, who looked like she _wanted_ to move closer to him, but was still holding herself back… which was exactly how _he_ felt.

"Oh for goodness sake you two, come on!" Patterson cried, prompting Kurt to slowly move towards Jane in the hopes that if they _did_ stand together, it would calm their now somewhat frenzied friend down. Feeling intensely awkward, but reminding himself that Patterson was practically family – and that she already _knew_ what was going on between them _–_ and besides, the chances that she wouldn't have seen them together sooner or later were pretty much zero anyway – he stepped closer to Jane, slipping his arm around her waist as she leaned hesitantly against his shoulder, unable to stop herself from smiling up at him.

"Hi," he said quietly into Jane's ear, painfully aware of Patterson's gleeful stare. Jane glanced at him quickly, replying simply, "Hi," in return. They both turned back to look at Patterson, who looked so happy that Kurt swore her face was going to split open then and there.

Suddenly, Patterson surged forward, grabbing the two of them tightly, one by each shoulder, and pulling them into a hug from which they could not immediately extricate themselves. "I'm so happy for you guys!" she cried excitedly, bouncing slightly and holding on tight for a full ten seconds more, during which Jane began to laugh, and Kurt felt more and more uncomfortable, trying his best to lean against Jane and away from Patterson. Enough was enough.

When she finally released them, Patterson leaned back looking slightly teary as she stepped away from them. "Sorry," she said, now both embarrassed and emotional. "I'm just so _happy_ for you guys."

"Thanks, Patterson," Kurt smiled. "Let's all get out of here, okay? It's been a hell of a long day." As much as Kurt enjoyed standing with his arm around Jane, he dropped it to his side again before they'd made it out of the lab, and he walked in between the two women down the hall to the elevator.

 _Just keep walking, you've almost made it_ , he kept telling himself.

XXX

Once they made it to the locker room, Patterson grabbed her things and made a quick exit, waving goodbye. Jane quickly finished up at her locker and walked over to where Kurt stood in front of his locker, swinging it closed and turning around to face her, smiling.

"Everything okay?" he asked, taking a step closer to her. "Did I interrupt any… girl stuff?"

Looking at him in amusement, she made what felt to her like a funny face at him. " _Girl stuff_?" she asked him, almost laughing.

"I don't know… whatever it is that girls talk about," he said, trying to clarify his first question but fairly sure that he hadn't done so at all.

Jane shrugged, glancing around then back up at him. "We were just… talking."

"About anything in particular?" he asked.

She swore that he had moved closer to her again, and if he didn't _stop_ doing that, she was going to lose her mind very shortly. It was all she could do to leave space between them.

"Nothing much," she shrugged again, looking at the floor and making a face, then, when he cleared his throat, finally looking up at him again.

"About _me_?" he asked, thinking that this was pretty likely, all things considered.

"Maybe," she replied noncommittally.

"Ah- _ha_!" he cried, pretending that he'd discovered a secret. She just shook her head at him, blushing.

"Only good things," she admitted quietly, her eyes not leaving his face. If she didn't know any better, she'd say that he was fighting the desire to kiss her at that moment.

Watching him with interest, she saw him glance around to check that they were alone, then suddenly his face changed. Suddenly he almost looked… nervous? But why? When he spoke, however, she understood.

"So, do you… want a ride? Or do you want to… go home, uh, together? I mean, you know, get some dinner, and… maybe…" He was stammering out words than had ceased to form sentences, and suddenly he seemed to have decided just to stop talking.

She chuckled at him, thinking that awkward Kurt Weller was perhaps the cutest thing she'd ever seen. At the same time, warmth flooded her system at the idea of an evening with him. She hadn't known _what_ to expect at the end of the day, she'd simply been hopeful that they'd be spending more time together outside of the office. Feeling herself blush, she looked up at him and smiled. This not touching thing was seriously killing her.

"Yes," she replied simply.

He looked at her with relief, which then changed to confusion. "Yes to which one?" he asked in a low voice.

"All of it," she whispered. From the look on his face, she guessed that even the stoic Kurt Weller was more than a little bit moved by her answer, and after glancing around them and finding the locker room empty for the moment, she leaned up to kiss him very quickly. "Now let's get out of here. I can't take this anymore," she added even more quietly.

"Yes, ma'am," he replied with a smile. If she had to guess, she was pretty sure he felt exactly how _she_ felt as far as the distance they'd maintained in the office all day – that he'd had enough of it, already.

She couldn't help but feel relief that they'd made it through the day, and that things felt just the same as they had that morning – better even, because she was starting to realize that she _didn't_ have to be anxious after all, just like Kurt had been telling her. No, she shouldn't really be surprised by that… but now that they'd gotten through a day without everything between them disappearing into thin air, it seemed even more real… which was slightly ridiculous, she knew, but that was just the way it was.

They managed to make it the rest of the way out of the building and into the parking garage while keeping their hands to themselves. He opened the car door for her and, once she'd settled in, closed it again, then walked around and let himself into the driver's seat. They looked at each other and sighed, Jane leaning her left cheek against the seat tiredly as she looked at him. She felt as though the adrenaline that had been keeping her going all day, along with the healthy dose of caffeine that she'd consumed, had suddenly all worn off at the same time.

XXX

"You look tired," he said as he started the car, then looked back at her once more. "You should probably go to bed early tonight."

"And when you say _you_ , you mean…" she trailed off, extremely curious where exactly he was going with that. _Hadn't they said they were going home together?_

He smiled at her, the very same smile that always melted her heart, and then right on cue, he yawned. "I mean _us_ , of course," he replied, as if it was the most logical thing in the world.

"Oh, okay," she said with a smile. "You had me wondering for a second."

Backing out of the parking space and turning towards the exit, he glanced over at her. "So, where are we going? Your place or mine?"

"Yes," she said, still leaning her cheek against the seat, even with her seatbelt fastened over her shoulder.

"And you know that that wasn't a yes or no question, right?" he asked with a grin. _She must be more tired than I thought_ , he told himself. Then again, this was the second time in the past few minutes that she'd answered "yes" to a question that had two choices, neither of which was "yes."

"It makes perfect sense," she replied. "Yes, your place or mine. Anywhere. Just… with you."

He felt an ache in his chest that was so powerful just then that he quickly glanced in the rearview and side mirrors and, seeing no cars coming from any other direction, simply stopped the car in the middle of the narrow lane that wound through the garage, leaned over towards her and whispered, "You are too much," then without further hesitation, he kissed her.

It was one of those things that, because he didn't _have_ to wait to do, even though he probably _should_ have, he decided not to. It was a short kiss by their standards – they were, after all, in the middle of what was, well, sort of a road – and afterward he rested his forehead against hers for several seconds before sitting back up and resuming the drive out of the parking garage.

"Let's consider the alternatives," he said reasonably as he pulled out into traffic, as if their conversation had just been progressing normally without stopping in the middle of the road to kiss her. "Are you too tired to deal with Sarah?" She just smiled at him and shrugged, but he knew that though she liked his sister, the answer was yes.

"Okay," he continued, "so how about we stop at my place so I can grab a few things, and then we go to your place?" She shrugged, nodding, and he wondered if she'd even be _awake_ by the time they got to her place. Or to _his_ place, for that matter.

He reached for her hand, squeezing slightly. Her eyes closed almost immediately, and he could both see and feel her relax at the contact. Just then, he couldn't help but remember a few other times when she'd fallen asleep in his car, the first of which had been in the first few days that they'd known each other. It had been a very long time ago, and it felt even longer… like another lifetime. In a way, it _had_ been another lifetime.

When he pulled up in front of his building a little while later, she was sleeping soundly in the passenger seat. Instead of waking her, he carefully removed his hand from hers, then turned off the car, taking the overnight bag that he'd left in her car from the weekend to exchange the contents, and locking the doors, leaving her there to sleep.

As he rode up in the elevator, he mentally made a list of the things he needed to get from his apartment, and found that the thought of staying with her made him smile. _This could quickly become a habit_ , he thought.

In his apartment, he grabbed the few things he needed for another night at Jane's house, relieved to have found the apartment empty. It was unusual, though not unheard of, for Sarah and Sawyer not to be home at that hour, and it meant that he didn't have to answer his sister's well-meaning but slightly nosy questions, or have her fawn over the fact that he was going back to Jane's house. He could get back out the door that much faster, in other words.

Seven minutes later, he was back at the car with a backpack over his shoulder and a plastic bag in his hand, unlocking the door and sliding back inside quietly. She stirred slightly when he turned the key in the ignition, but otherwise she continued to sleep.

When they pulled up in front of her house, he once again hated to have to wake her up, but this time he had two distinct advantages over the previous night. First of all, it was just the two of them there, and second of all, they already knew that they were going inside together, so he anticipated much less resistance.

He sat and looked at her for a few seconds, smiling at how peaceful she looked in her sleep. Then, as he had earlier, he leaned forward and kissing her slowly, feeling her stir beneath the weight of his kiss. When he leaned back and opened his eyes, she was looking at him sleepily.

"Hi," she said quietly. "Sorry, I fell asleep."

"I noticed," he grinned back. She looked past him, outside the car, in confusion, clearly trying to get her bearings. "We're at your place," he said, and watched the confusion fade from her face. "I already stopped to get a few things from my apartment, and you slept right through it. Come on, let's go inside." Grinning sheepishly, she nodded and turned around to open her door.

He made it around the car before she had closed her door behind her, carrying his backpack and a plastic grocery bag. Finally away from the prying eyes of the FBI, his arm went around her shoulders and hers around his lower back, separating again only when they reached her door.

XXX

She let them in and switched on the light as they entered, bathing the room in a warm glow. It was funny, she'd never thought of her little house as cozy, or anything other than a place to sleep, really… and yet somehow, as soon as Kurt was there with her, it seemed like a perfect place to escape from the chaos of the FBI and a world that constantly needed saving.

Kurt set his backpack down along the wall by the stairs, carrying the plastic bag to the kitchen. Jane had locked the door behind them, and now walked slowly behind him to the kitchen. It was her turn to lean against the doorframe and watch him, and she saw that he'd taken out a plate from the cupboard, onto which he had dumped the contents of a Chinese takeout box.

"Dinner," he said proudly, putting it in the microwave.

"Perfect," she declared, walking up alongside him tiredly. As they waited for the food to be ready, he wrapped one arm across the back of her neck, hooking it around and pulling her tightly into him. He kissed her forehead, and then tugged her closer with both arms, until she couldn't get any closer. She had wrapped her arms around him as well, feeling tired enough that she was pretty sure he was now holding her up. Just then it felt as if she might never be able to let him go.

"Thank you," she mumbled into his neck, where her face was nestled. She expected him to ask her what she was thanking him for, but instead she felt him shake his head, then lean down towards her to mumble, "No, thank _you_." As she smiled against him, she somehow knew that they both knew exactly what the other one was talking about – just like it had always been between them.

It wasn't for just any one thing. It was for everything, and yet nothing. The tiny things that might have seemed inconsequential, but were simultaneously so important, and the big things, which might have seemed important, and were simultaneously so inconsequential. It was just… everything.

"I never realized what it was… _this_ …" she said, leaning back to look into his eyes. Once again, she expected him to ask what she was talking about, like anyone else would have, but he just nodded.

He smiled, then said, "I didn't either. But now I do."

She nodded, suddenly unable to say what she'd been about to say. It had never occurred to her that her heart could be _too_ full for words.

"I…" she managed, but couldn't coax any other words out.

He just smiled, leaning his forehead against hers. "Me, too," he whispered.

As they stood there in the kitchen, holding onto each other, the microwave beeped to signal that their food was ready. They didn't move, didn't even hear the noise. At that moment, once again nothing else in the world existed besides the two of them. They both breathed deeply, their foreheads shifting against each other until their noses were touching as well, at which point they stopped, overcome with the emotion of the moment.

 _Breathe in. Breathe out._

 _This can't be real…_

 _And yet, it is._

 _I don't deserve this…_

 _Yes, you_ _ **do**_ _…_

Their thoughts were jumbles of unspoken feelings and by some strange force, both of them knew that the other one knew _exactly_ how they felt.

Finally, when it had been long enough that they knew they were going to have to warm up the food all over again, Kurt reluctantly lifted his head, leaning his cheek against hers and then breaking the silence. "Let's eat, so we can go to bed," he said quietly into her ear, for no other reason that he liked to be that close to her.

"Yes, please," she replied, sighing happily against him.

That was when Jane finally let herself believe it. Yes, the weekend was over, but the rest of it? That was just beginning.

 _A/N: I know, I know, there's no good place to end this because we all want it to go on and on. I'm sad to see it end myself. But it was a story about their weekend at the beach, and now that they've survived the transition back to reality… that's all._

 _Fear not, I'll still be writing about this pair, since they're my very favorite thing in the world to write about at the moment (and besides, MonkeyPajamas is never going to let me stop). I have a Jeller story that I've neglected for months now (I See You) which I hope to get back to… plus, every time I finish a story (or… when I'm smack in the middle of one, sometimes, for that matter) and think I have no idea what to write about, another story generally pops into my head about five minutes later. So I should be getting a new idea any minute now… :)_

 _Thank you all_ _ **SO**_ _much for reading, and for your kind reviews of this story. They have made me smile like you cannot believe. I'm excited (and a little scared) to see what the rest of the season (and hopefully more seasons to come) brings in the non-fanfic Blindspot universe (i.e. the show itself) – hopefully Kurt gets his head on straight before we have to watch him sleep with every woman on the show_ _ **except**_ _Jane... (*groan*) But I won't get started about_ _ **that**_ _. :) This story has been my happy place, so thank you all for sharing it with me. Until next time!_


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